AUSTIN, TX – The Austin City Council’s Mobility Committee this week recommended new regulations affecting ridesharing companies in the City. The proposed rules would require transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft to put signage or other “trade dress” on their vehicles; submit all vehicles to the same 20-point vehicle inspection required of taxis and limousines; disclose their trip data to the City of Austin; and fingerprint all prospective drivers. Texas Public Policy’s Center for Local Governance Policy Analyst Allegra Hill issued the following statement:

“Austin would be better served by looking for ways to help innovative industries like Uber and Lyft thrive, rather than saddling them with more regulations. The fact that taxi-cab companies have trouble competing with ridesharing companies is a good illustration of the power of city regulations on the success or failure of a business. Austin ought to be looking for ways to cut the red tape, not add to it.”

For more information or to request an interview with Ms. Hill, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.

Allegra Hill is a policy analyst with the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.

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