With new law, Lyft, Uber set to return to Austin

AUSTIN: Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft, which left Texas’ tech-savvy capital city a year ago over local fingerprint requirements for drivers, are set to return after state lawmakers intervened. Both companies say they’ll be rolling on Austin’s streets again Monday, when Gov Greg Abbott is expected to sign into law a bill that puts the state - not local governments - in charge of regulating the ride-hailing industry.

Local leaders in Austin, the conservative state’s most liberal city, argued unsuccessfully that its tech-driven economy was uniquely positioned to launch capable alternatives that could fill the gap. “Austin is an incubator for technology and entrepreneurship, and we are excited to be back in the mix,” Uber spokesman Travis Considine said Thursday. “... We know that we have a lot of work to do in the city, but we couldn’t be more excited for the road ahead.” Uber and Lyft fled Austin after losing a bruising and expensive fight to replace the city’s ordinance that required fingerprint-based background checks of drivers, a variety of data reporting and other requirements. Advocates for fingerprinting say it’s the best way to weed out drivers with criminal records. Uber and Lyft have argued their background checks suffice and that fingerprint databases can be out of date. Fingerprinting can also slow down the process of adding new drivers.

Austin became the chosen battleground as similar debates cropped up in similar large cities around the country, and the companies spent about $9 million on the campaign before they were rejected by the city’s voters. The companies followed through on threats to leave rather than submit to the local rules, and quickly turned their efforts to lobbying for statewide regulations.