What do you think when you hear of the Hillsborough

County Public Transportation Commission (PTC)? Do you imme-diately think about a taxi-cab? Maybe you recall a news arti-cle you read having some-

thing to do with the PTC and companies like Uber and Lyft. To clear up some mispercep-tions about the PTC, here are questions and answers with the agency’s Executive Director, Kyle Cockream.

Q. What is the Hillsborough County Public Transporta-tion Commission (PTC)?A. The PTC is an Independent Special District that regulates vehicles for-hire. This includes taxicabs, limousines, vans, basic life support ambulances and tow trucks.

Q. What are the biggest misperceptions people have about the PTC?

A. Two things. First, people often think all we do is regulate taxis. Actually, our work is broader, since we also regulate other for-hire transportation services, and help people who feel like they’ve been treated unfairly by a towing company or a limo service. Secondly, people think that we are funded by their tax dollars – but that’s not true. We are funded by fees we charge the transporta-tion businesses we regulate.

Q. Why is the PTC import-ant?A. The safety of our commu-nity is central to the mission of the PTC, and we continually seek ways to improve the pub-lic’s safety in the transportation industry in Hillsborough County. We do this by doing extensive background checks of drivers, ensuring that the vehicles you ride in are properly insured, and making sure those vehicles are mechanically safe. Our inspec-tors also do regular cosmetic inspections to check the lights, tire tread, A/C, and overall cleanliness.

Q. Now let’s talk about something that has been in the news lately – business-es like Uber and Lyft, and whether they should be reg-ulated by the PTC. What’s the story?A. Uber and Lyft operate as taxicab companies. They recruit drivers, market for passengers who need on-demand trans-portation, dispatch drivers to pick up passengers, and charge passengers for rides so the driver and the dispatch service can earn a profit. That certainly sounds like what taxicabs do every day. These types of businesses need regulation for one main reason – safety. Because these companies refuse to follow the same regu-lations that taxicabs follow, they often cut corners when it comes to public safety.

Q. Can you give some exam-ples of the safety concerns?A. Let’s start with the back-ground checks required for driv-ers. Taxicab drivers are required to pass fingerprint-based back-ground checks conducted by state or local authorities. When a Live Scan fingerprint check is used, it crosschecks through official De-partment of Justice and FBI da-tabases. In contrast, Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft use a private com-pany that conducts an inexpen-sive background check on appli-cant names and Social Security numbers that only accesses pub-lic records through the internet. Around the country, felons have been proven to be driving TNC vehicles because of these inferior checks. A recent California investiga-tion found a convicted murderer and child molester both driving for one of these companies.

Passengers are frequently alone with these drivers in their vehicle, and are extremely vulnerable.

Q. What other issues con-cern you about companies like Uber and Lyft?A. In addition to ensuring that the drivers of these vehicles are not criminals, the two other is-sues we are most concerned with are the lack of vehicle inspections - we require inspections by ASE certified mechanics - and inade-quate insurance.

Q. Have you tried to work with Uber and Lyft to ad-dress these concerns?A. Absolutely! We’ve had sever-al meetings with Uber and Lyft, but unfortunately, they will not work with us. They have advised us that they and their drivers will continue to illegally operate in Hillsborough County, although they do comply with regulations in cities such as Houston and Co-lumbus.

Q. What do you mean, “op-erate illegally?”A. It is against the law for “ride-share” companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in Hillsborough County, including the airport, cruise terminal and Ybor City.

Q. Do you think a resolution is possible?A. The PTC has offered several resolutions. We know that TNCs such as Uber and Lyft are gain-ing in popularity, and we want to find a way to work with them. However, we refuse to jeopar-dize passenger safety to come to that resolution. The safety of our community is an integral part of our mission, and we will not lose sight of that while attempting to find a resolution.

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A Q&A with the Public Transportation Commission:What are the facts about the situation with Uber and Lyft?

Kyle Cockream

Public Transportation Commission (PTC) inspectors do regular cosmetic inspections of licensed vehicles.