Airports seek ride-share exception

They say proposals cut them out of fees from Uber, others

LITTLE ROCK — The two largest commercial service airports in Arkansas say they want an exemption from proposed state rules governing Uber and other ride-sharing technology companies.

Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill said the rules proposed by the Arkansas Public Service Commission staff don’t allow them to collect any fees from ride- sharing technology companies, which conflicts with federal requirements mandating the airports collect revenue from businesses operating on airport property.

The airports already collect fees from other transportation companies, such as cabs, limousines, shuttles and rental cars.

“The airports object to the proposed rules in that there is no exception or provision authorizing the airport to collect fees from [ ride- sharing technology companies] in accordance with state and federal law,” according to a petition to intervene that the airports filed Friday in the rule-making case.

The petition was filed by attorneys for the airports, Carolyn Witherspoon of Little Rock representing Clinton National and P. Joshua Wisley of Fayetteville representing Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

Not collecting the fees from Uber and similar ride- sharing companies could be construed as an “unlawful diversion of funds” because the revenue from such fees can only be used to subsidize airport operations under Federal Aviation Administration rules, the filing said.

The airports formally requested to participate because their “interests in this proceeding are not adequately represented by any other party, because the airports’ operations and federal grant requirements are unique and best represented by the airports,” the filing said.

The proposed rules follow Act 1050 of 2015, which became law last month and delegates the rule-making to the commission. A hearing on the proposed rules is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 23 in the hearing room of the commission’s Little Rock offices to take public comment. The public also can comment through the commission’s website at www.apscservices.info/publiccomment. The case docket number is 15-052-R.

The new law and rules require ride- sharing technology companies to pay an annual fee of $15,000 to the commission and establish requirements for drivers. Independent verification that the drivers meet the requirements would only happen if the commission investigates complaints or through an annual audit of company records.

Act 1050 requires state and national criminal-background checks be done on potential drivers, as well as a driving history report. A company cannot accept a driver if the driver has been convicted in the past seven years of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol; fraud; a sexual offense; using a motor vehicle to commit a felony; a crime involving property damage; theft; acts of violence; or acts of terror.

The state law is more stringent than the process in effect in Little Rock. The city’s ordinance governing transportation network companies is superseded by Act 1050.

Under the ordinance, the public could access information about how many drivers have Little Rock permits, as well as those drivers’ names and other information. Such information can then be used to check a driver’s criminal history using public online court databases. However, under the state law, information about drivers will be secret.

Records the companies share with the state are protected from public disclosure and exempt from the state open-records law, under Act 1050. Drivers also won’t be required to get individual permits.

As of last month, Little Rock issued permits to 195 Uber drivers, and city officials can check that required background investigations have been completed.

Drivers also can’t be listed on the national sex offender registry or have had more than three moving traffic violations or more than one major traffic violation within the past three years.

Uber says its background checks are extensive, but still the company has been scrutinized by municipal and state governments nationwide.

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette review of drivers approved in Little Rock found all of them met the city’s restrictions in regard to criminal history. Some had been convicted of felonies — such as forgery or writing hot checks — but the city code allows that as long as the convictions weren’t in the past five years.

At least two current drivers had past DWI convictions, but both were more than 10 years ago. One of those drivers also had been arrested multiple times for public intoxication in the 1990s.

In addition to statewide checks, Uber also runs a national criminal check, a Social Security number trace and checks against the sex offender registry.