State tweaks ride-booking regulations
Regulators table measure to prohibit some Uber, Lyft drivers fromusing rental cars
SAN FRANCISCO — Tabling a controversial measure that would prohibit some Uber and Lyft drivers from using rental cars, California regulators on Thursday passed a handful of other rules for ridebooking platforms.
The California Public Utilities Commission postponed voting on a proposed rule that would ban drivers from using rental cars to pick up passengers if the driver signed a lease for less than four months. The proposal, which was a last-minute addition to rules the regulators had been considering for months, faced immediate pushback from drivers, rental car companies that partner with Lyft and Uber, and the California lawmaker who introduced a bill this week to undermine the four-month rule.
“There might be some benefit to going back and developing the record more on this question,” Commissioner Liane Randolph said during a public hearing Thursday. “I still think
that ‘personal vehicle’ doesn’t just necessarily mean that you just run down to Joe’s car lot and pick one up.”
Commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday to approve a handful of other tweaks to existing ride-booking regulations. Under the new mandates, drivers must submit to heightened vehicle inspection standards and display their identifying logo (Lyft’s mustache or Uber’s “U”) in both the back and front of their vehicles. Lyft, Uber and other so-called “transportation network companies” also must submit additional information to the commission about drivers who are deactivated or suspended and provide data about how the companies calculate their carpool fares.
The new mandates are updates to rules adopted when commissioners first legalized ride-booking for “personal vehicles” in 2013. As the new industry grows and changes, commissioners continue to struggle with questions such as whether rented cars qualify as “personal vehicles.” Many drivers who spoke out during Thursday’s meeting said yes, arguing that short-term rentals allow lower-income drivers who can’t afford their own car, who drive a car that doesn’t meet Lyft or Uber standards, or whose car is in the shop, to use the ridebooking platforms to make extra cash.
Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, introduced a bill earlier this week that would allow drivers to shuttle passengers using a vehicle that is leased, rented or otherwise authorized for use for any period of time.
“Rental cars are the safest, newest cars on the road, and I think it’s just madness to take that pool of cars out of the pool that can be used for (transportation network company) driving,” Gatto said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Gatto says his bill, if passed, would override any contradictory rules proposed by the commission.
Both Lyft and Uber have invested in programs to make renting easier for their drivers. Uber’s partnership with rental car company Enterprise allows drivers to rent cars for $30 per day and return the car at any time after the first week. Last month, Lyft launched flexible weekly car rentals in Chicago, as part of a new partnership with General Motors. And startups like Los Angeles-based HyreCar and Evercar and San Francisco-based Breeze have based their entire business models on their ability to match Lyft and Uber drivers with rental cars.
Lyft and Uber commended commissioners Thursday, both for postponing the rental car vote and for officially legalizing carpool programs such as UberPool and Lyft Line.
“We appreciate the commission delaying a decision on the type of shortterm leasing partnerships that Lyft has with General Motors and Evercar,” a Lyft spokeswoman wrote in an emailed statement. “These programs help people quickly and easily become a ride-share driver as a flexible way to make ends meet, and also help the state meet its environmental goals.”
Underscoring the farreaching impact of ridebooking regulations, the commission also heard emotional testimony before its vote from the mother and boyfriend of 23-yearold Shane Holland, who was killed in a 2014 crash while taking a Lyft home from a Halloween party. Holland’s boyfriend, Brady Lawrence, who also was in the car, urged the commission to use its power to make sure Lyft and other ride-booking companies hire safe drivers. He and Holland’s mother, Donna Dinapoli, are suing Lyft over Holland’s death.
“Lyft was supposed to be our designated driver,” Lawrence said. “I lost the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with.”