Chicago Regulates Uber and Lyft—but Not Enough to Satisfy Taxi Companies

Hal Dardick and Jon Hilkevitch report that the Chicago City Council preempted forthcoming state legislation in voting to regulate transportation network companies like Lyft, Uber, and Sidecar.

According to the report, "[aldermen] voted 34-10 in favor of the new regulations after an effort failed to delay the measure until the General Assembly passes its own set of rideshare regulations."

The ordinance ordinance approved by the City Council will go into effect in 90 days, at which point "companies whose driver workforce averages more than 20 hours per person each week will face stronger oversight, including a requirement that all drivers obtain chauffeur's licenses." However, "the ordinance leaves it to the ride-share companies like Uber X, Lyft and SideCar to police drivers in terms of how many work hours are logged."

Taxicab companies believe the ordinance does not go far enough in regulating the transportation network companies. The Emanuel Administration, however, argued against stronger regulation, saying that "the vast majority of ride-share drivers -- up to 75 percent -- work only part time." According to city officials, "there are likely 100 to 150 full-time ride-share drivers," according to Dardick and Hilkevitch.