SAN JOSE — Deflated from the City Council’s unanimous decision to scale back the rules for Uber and Lyft drivers at the airport, hundreds of taxi drivers ended a two-day strike Wednesday but remained hopeful about the city’s bid next week to ease taxi regulations.
“The strike didn’t accomplish anything,” said Kirpal Bajwa, secretary of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Silicon Valley. “There is nothing left for us to protest now. The city has overwhelmingly voted in their favor. What’s left for us?”
The council cut the red tape Tuesday for ride-booking at the airport after a tougher regulatory scheme adopted as a pilot in June failed to attract any participants. Not a single Uber or Lyft driver applied to pick up passengers at the Mineta San Jose International Airport because of the city rules, which required drivers to submit fingerprints, meet vehicle age and condition requirements and obtain business licenses.
City leaders backtracked on the fingerprints and vehicle restrictions. Instead of mandatory fingerprints for all drivers, only 1 percent will be subject to monthly audits, including random curbside audits. The vehicle restrictions, which barred ride-booking drivers in cars more than 10 years old or with 400,000 miles, were also eliminated — as long as drivers pass vehicle inspections.
Taxi leaders argued that auditing only 1 percent of Uber and Lyft drivers will compromise passenger safety. Uber spokeswoman Laura Zapata estimated the Bay Area, including the company’s home in San Francisco, is home to 20,000 Uber drivers.
Cabdrivers said they pay higher trip fees and face tougher regulations. They pressed the council to “even the playing field” between the taxi industry and its high-tech competition.
“They need to either raise their fees or reduce ours to make it fair,” Bajwa said.
The council on Tuesday will consider deregulating taxis in an effort to close the gap.
Some ideas include lowering fees for taxi fares booked through mobile apps, using a simpler vehicle inspection process and issuing temporary permits to cabbies while they wait for background check results.
And if the auditing model approved Tuesday is successful for ride-share drivers at the airport, city officials could offer it to taxi drivers.
The disparity between rules for taxi companies, usually set by cities and counties, and ride-booking companies, regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, isn’t unique to San Jose.
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against Uber and the CPUC on behalf of a Southern California cab company alleges a violation of the unfair competition law because of Uber’s “unfair pricing” and business model. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to stop ride-booking operations in Orange County.
“The pricing, lack of licensing and insurance makes it so that we cannot fairly compete,” said Maryann Cazzell, a Santa Ana attorney representing A White and Yellow Cab, Inc.
“They come in with these de-facto taxi cabs and take all the business,” she continued. “We’re saying we have a right to get that money back that was stolen from our taxi drivers.”
Though San Jose gave up on fingerprinting Uber and Lyft drivers at its airport, the council will appeal to the CPUC, the agency that regulates ride-booking, to require fingerprints for drivers statewide.
Follow Ramona Giwargis at Twitter.com/ramonagiwargis or contact her at 408-920-5705.
