TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Download the app, request a driver and a car is on the way. No tip is required, and the payment is made on your credit card through the app.
This is the convenient service offered by popular ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft.
The services are also typically cheaper than traditional taxi rides and, because of this, they have faced strong opposition from traditional cab companies.
Uber and Lyft drivers are currently working illegally in Hillsborough County and drivers face heavy fines if they are caught from officers working for the Public Transportation Commission.
The PTC is funded by cab companies, limo services and tow truck companies. The PTC has demanded ride-hailing service drivers submit to fingerprint background checks and carry expensive insurance policies. The requirements have been pushed on the PTC by cab companies.
Late Wednesday night, PTC chairman Victor Crist worked out a deal that could allow the ride sharing services to operate legally in the county. The temporary operating agreement would require extensive background checks, insurance and vehicle inspections for drivers.
“The temporary operating agreement could be immediately rolled into a court settlement and it all shut down and move forward with the companies operating legally, with no more expensive lawsuits and frankly with the end of the controversy that has been plaguing the PTC,” said Crist.
The agreement must still be passed by the full PTC board to take effect and it’s opposed by the cab companies. Crist knows this could stand in the way of the agreement being approved.
“The existing companies that are currently regulated have to approve of any changes that we want to make or they can slow the process down and cause it to fail so that nothing gets done,” said Crist.
The PTC next meets on October 13.Read more: Tampa mayor blasts Public Transportation Commission, supports Uber, Lyft
