Ride-hailing company Uber is asking its thousands of drivers and passengers to write or call Mayor Kirk Caldwell to urge him to veto a bill that imposes requirements on its operations.
Bill 36 was approved by the Honolulu City Council 8-1 on Aug. 3. Caldwell has until Thursday to either sign or veto the bill, or to let it become law without his signature. If he vetoes it, the Council would need six votes to override the action and make the bill law.
Caldwell is reviewing the bill, spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said. The mayor’s office has received more than 70 calls and 300 nearly identical emails asking him to veto the bill, he said.
The measure “would force Uber into an outdated taxicab business model full of red tape,” the company said in its email to drivers. “With the passage of this bill into law, thousands of drivers could lose their ability to make money and hundreds of thousands of riders could lose access to their preferred method of transportation.”
Uber spokeswoman Taylor Patterson said one provision in the bill, requiring that ride-hailing vehicles have permanent decals or other identifying marks, could deter many of its estimated 5,000 drivers from continuing to operate. “It’s not a step that does anything to improve public safety whatsoever,” Patterson said.
Another provision — requiring drivers to possess Hawaii driver’s licenses — could disqualify many of its operators, particularly those who are either members of the military or their dependents who retain licenses from their home states, she said.
As far as she’s researched, Uber drivers are not required to follow either of the provisions in any other U.S. jurisdiction, Patterson said.
“Tens of thousands” of people have signed a petition urging the Council and the mayor to reject the bill, Patterson said.
Howard Higa, president of TheCab, said the bill is necessary to not only ensure the safety of consumers, but to level the playing field between taxis and drivers of Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing, or transportation network, companies.
Higa said the requirements are not too onerous. Ride-sharing companies “obviously … don’t want to live with any regulations,” he said. “It’s easier to get drivers when you have no regulations.”
As for Uber’s claim that the bill would wreak havoc on its operational scheme, Higa said: “I don’t think that laws should be written around someone’s business model.”
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who authored the bill, said Caldwell should not be swayed by any pressure from Uber drivers. “He should make his own decision based on what he thinks about Bill 36,” she said.
Both Patterson and Higa said that even if the bill becomes law, they intend to work with Council members on changes.
