San Francisco

Uber and Lyft Leave Austin: High Stakes Bluff or Shutting Down for Good?

Less than two days after people had their say at the polls, the lights at the Lyft’s Austin offices are off.

“I saw them taking literally everything out of the office. They switched the sign to ‘closed’ and that’s all I’ve seen,” Austin’s Cody Herring told our NBC affiliate KXAN.

On Saturday, Austin residents voted to require ride-hailing companies to fingerprint their drivers. Starting Monday, Uber and Lyft decided to leave Austin instead of going along with it.

Chris Nakutis, General Manager of Uber Austin, issued a statement: “Disappointment does not begin to describe how we feel about shutting down. For the past two years, drivers and riders made ridesharing work in this great city. We’re incredibly grateful. From rallies to phone banking to knocking on doors, they spread the word and their support was humbling and inspiring.”

Uber leaders say the ballot language was confusing for voters, some of whom are now challenging it in court.

Though Lyft says it was a difficult decision to halt operations, the San Francisco-based company is playing it a little differently: “We are going to continue to fight for ridesharing in Austin. We remain hopeful that we will we will find a way forward that brings Lyft back to the city as we did in San Antonio. However, we will not operate in Austin as long as mandatory fingerprinting is in place.”

Last year, Lyft and Uber also left San Antonio, but then returned months later after the city made fingerprinting voluntary.

In the Bay Area, taxis and ride-hailing companies have been at odds for years.

“We still do fingerprints. We still do drug and alcohol tests,” Shakur Buni, president of the San Jose Airport Taxi Driver Association, said, explaining it’s a matter of fairness.

Buni thinks Bay Area voters should get to decide too.

“Instead of getting pressure from the big corporations, [the City Council] should put the whole issue before the public and let the public speak on the issue,” Buni said.

San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra says putting the issue on the ballot would be a last resort.

“I hope not. When it comes to governance, you usually try to avoid going to the ballot,” Kalra said. “We’re working very hard to try to find a way for our taxi cab industry and our ride share industry to coexist.”

Councilmember Kalra says a pilot program doing monthly checks on ride-hailing driers is still in early stages.

“Right now, from what our staff is telling us, the spot checks and background checks are working, but when it comes to safety we don’t want to just rely on the first couple of months,” Kalra said.

He says San Jose’s background check program will have a mid-year review in August. That’s the same time the taxi drivers plan to ask the City Council to put an initiative on the November ballot.

Meantime, Austin leaders say they are expediting fingerprint background check process and helping drivers who lost their jobs sign up for other ride-hailing companies.

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