KCMO City Council passes revised ridesharing ordinance; Uber may cease operations in the city

The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council today voted unanimously in favor of a new and revised ordinance that will relax regulations and lower fees for “transportation network companies” such as Uber and Lyft. In a thundering speech, Mayor Sly James stressed the importance of background checks for drivers and blasted Uber for refusing to negotiate with the city. He accused the company of stalling in Kansas City while it awaits the passage of state legislation in Jefferson City that could allow it to disregard civic ordinances. 

“They’re jerking our chain,” James said of Uber. “That’s the truth of the matter. We met and met with them till we were blue in the face. We’ve been clear from day one about what was necessary here. We’ve worked with Lyft and got to the point where the ordinance is not exactly what they want and it’s not exactly what we want, but it will go forward. Z Trip is already registered. But Uber says, ‘We won’t accept any of this.’ Now today I’m getting calls from Uber at 7 a.m., last night at 10:30 p.m., then five minutes before this meeting, saying they need another 90 days. You’ve had nine months.” 

Prior to the council vote, Uber representatives and around 50 Uber drivers gathered across the street from City Hall to hold a brief protest of the proposed ordinance. Andy Hung, Uber’s general manager for operations in Kansas City, made the following statements: 

“We respect the concerns of city officials.”
“The proposed ordinance will cost drivers $230 out of pocket. We can’t operate that way. We don’t want that to happen.”
“We’re not a taxi company; we’re not a transportation company; we’re a technology company.”
“We want the council to take a fresh look at this.”
“KC is a tech town. Let’s make it bigger and grow the ride-sharing industry.”

In a press release issued last night, Uber characterized the ordinance as “anti-technology” and said it “could kill hundreds of jobs and threaten Uber’s ability to operate in Kansas City.” A different release, distributed today by Uber, said the ordinance “mandates excessive regulations for drivers that include 4 stops, 7 separate processes and would cost drivers more than $230 out of pocket.” Such regulations, Uber says, “have proven to exponentially drive down the supply of drivers who use the Uber platform, making it impossible to meet local demand.”

In an attempt to sweeten the deal for Uber and further deregulate the ordinance, the council amended the ordinance to remove requirements that drivers pass an English-language test and a landmark test. It is not believed that will make a difference to Uber. The company said it will issue a statement soon regarding today’s vote.

(UPDATE: Uber says: “We’re very disappointed with the City’s decision. This anti-technology ordinance eliminates more than 1,000 jobs in Kansas City and creates nearly a dozen barriers to entry for small businesses. By trying to squeeze ridesharing into antiquated regulations, the City Council has effectively eliminated a safe and reliable transportation option, making Kansas City one of the few cities left in the nation without Uber.”)

“We heard early on it’s too expensive for [Uber] drivers to get up and running,” James said. “It was about $330. Now it’s $100. Is that acceptable for Uber? No. Nothing’s acceptable. There is no desire on our part to slow down the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of Kansas City, and anybody saying anything to the contrary needs to get ahold of the facts. The fact is we have a responsibility to ensure public safety.”

“We’re not stupid,” James added. “We’re dealing with a $40 billion company that wants their way.”

Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo noted prior to the vote, “There’s a balance to this. We want TNCs in Kansas City. We have spent countless hours trying to negotiate these issues. We have lowered the fees dramatically. The language and landmark testing are now waived. There’s a whole list of things we took out of the ordinance to get TNCs licensed in the city and working. This ordinance opens the door for everyone. This ordinance takes away the conflict between the city and Lyft. If you want to be a TNC, you can be a TNC. We want you and welcome you.”

She looked in the back left corner of the room where the Uber representatives were clustered. “We hope you’re here tomorrow,” she said.