Iowa City Council closer to making changes in taxicab ordinance

IOWA CITY - Rules in Iowa City to improve the safety of passengers in cabs and ride-sharing services like Uber are coming closer to passage.

On Tuesday the Iowa City Council will hold the second of three readings for several public safety oriented changes to the city's taxicab ordinance.

City staff first began looking into changes to the taxicab ordinance following a sexual assault investigation last year that became a logistical nightmare when police spent hundreds of hours trying to track down information on local cabdrivers to build the case.

'The number one concern we had after the assaults last year was the amount of time it took police investigators to even ascertain what drivers were on the street the time the assaults took place,” said Simon Andrew, administrative assistant in the city manager's office.

According to city documents, the city clerk shall approve a taxicab driver application, as long as the applicant has complied with city requirements and an official with the police department has determined the individual would not be detrimental to the safety, health or welfare of residents.

Interest by Uber officials to establish an Iowa City operation arrived just as staff began finalizing their recommendations.

'It was good timing for us in that we were already looking at the ordinances and were pretty well versed on it at that point,” Andrew said. 'So the discussion became then whether ride-sharing business models could be incorporated into the ordinance in a way that still met our public safety goals.”

City staff hope the changes would provide police with a system for quickly accessing driver and vehicle information if a public safety issue arises, aid customers in their ability to identify vehicles and drivers, ensure that taxicabs and their drivers are safe and create an environment that better provides fair prices.

A fair price doesn't mean the city would attempt to regulate cab prices, but rather that companies provide customers with the information to understand the price before agreeing to getting into the cab.

Proposed changes would include requiring:

' The city to issue annual identification cards for all drivers operating taxicabs in Iowa City.

' Each company to have a physical location for dispatch during all hours of operation to allow police to easily contact a company in the middle of the night if involved in an investigation.

' Only allowing drivers to charge a flat rate for locations within city limits, rather than a destination rate, which officials hope will reduce the chance of price gouging.

' A unique color scheme for each taxicab company.

Taxicabs operating with Uber or other ride-sharing businesses would not need to adhere to a specific color scheme, but city-issued identification cards and vehicle decals would be enforced.

A letter sent November from Uber General Manager Pooneet Kant responded to some of the proposed changes, namely asking that Uber drivers not be required to seek city-issued permits or place decals on their vehicles.

'Uber cannot support a proposal that would include permitting by a city,” Pooneet wrote in the letter. 'Uber has strict policies regarding driver requirements, such as an industry leading background check and driving history.”

Andrew said such requests by Uber are more focused on competition - Uber officials say making driver information public might encourage job poaching from other companies - while the city's standpoint remains focused on public safety.

'From staff's perspective, number one that didn't have any bearing on the public safety issues that we were really addressing with this ordinance and number two that's a competitive issue that city code doesn't really have a place in,” he said.