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There's a new deal to keep Uber in Hillsborough, but PTC approval still in doubt

 
Published Sept. 29, 2016

TAMPA — Rideshare company Uber has tentatively agreed to tougher background checks while operating in Hills­borough County, though it remains unclear whether the deal will pass muster with a regulatory agency.

Public Transportation Commission Chairman Victor Crist said Wednesday that Uber is on board with a new operating agreement that would allow it to remain in the county.

Final language for the deal, which covers insurance, vehicle inspections and the age of vehicles among other details, is being finalized by attorneys, he said.

But neither Uber nor Lyft — which is still in talks with Crist — is willing to have their drivers submit to a fingerprint background check, a condition that led the PTC board to reject previous deals that members said would compromise the safety of the traveling public.

Instead, the proposal would mandate an annual "enhanced" Level I background check, basically a statewide criminal records search combined with a search of federal court records, state and national sex offender databases and the most-wanted lists compiled by the FBI, Interpol and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The search would go back only seven years, instead of the lifetime search that is part of a Level II background check that existing PTC rules mandate for taxicab and limo drivers.

Crist acknowledged that difference could again be a sticking point but warned his board colleagues that another failed agreement with Uber and Lyft could lead state lawmakers, who say the PTC is stifling innovation, to abolish the agency.

"The board needs to realize what's at stake," Crist said. "Are they willing to bet the farm on the fingerprint requirement?"

Crist stressed the agreement would only be temporary, a stopgap measure to keep Uber and its rival Lyft in the county until state lawmakers approve a statewide regulatory framework for ridesharing.

If adopted, the temporary agreement would also settle ongoing litigation. The two rideshare companies have both asked the 2nd District Court of Appeal to rule that the agency that regulates for-hire vehicles in Hills­borough has no jurisdiction over ridesharing.

Board members are likely to get their first chance to weigh in on the proposal at their next meeting Oct. 13. They may have to choose between Crist's new deal and an earlier set of regulations that mandate fingerprinting.

Five of the seven-member board, including Crist, voted to move ahead with those rules Sept. 14 despite receiving emails and calls from dozens of drivers and rideshare passengers concerned the service will go away.

Both Uber and Lyft say fingerprinting will deter people from signing up to drive and may lead them to abandon the market, as they did in Austin, Texas, in May. Other rideshare companies including FARE moved into Austin to fill the vacuum.

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Plant City Commissioner Nate Kilton, who serves on the PTC board, was among those who voted for the regulations that required fingerprinting. He said he has a few questions about Crist's agreement but would support a temporary agreement without fingerprinting.

"The best path forward, in my mind, is a settlement agreement using a temporary operating agreement with more flexibility with regard to background checks and moving forward with new rules so other ride-sharing companies can come into the marketplace," he said.

While the PTC has been attacked by rideshare drivers and passengers who have grown accustomed to the convenience and low cost of the service in the past two years, it has also faced pressure from the taxicab and limousine industries. They want rideshare companies to adhere to the same regulations for insurance, vehicle inspections and background checks they are bound by.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who has branded the PTC a "dinosaur" for opposing rideshare, said he doubted the deal would save the agency from being axed by lawmakers.

"I think the PTC recognizes that the forces are amassing, and they're not on the right side of history, they're not on the right side of technology and they're not on the right side of the direction the city is headed," he said. "There are enough legislators that are furious at the PTC and recognize that it's an institution that has long outlived its usefulness."

Contact Christopher O'Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_Times.