Portland Private-for-Hire

Transportation Board of Review

September 2013

Letter from Travis Kalanick | Co-Founder & CEO, Uber Technologies When I co-founded Uber Technologies in 2009, for-hire transportation hadn’t changed much in decades. The only way to get a ride had been to call a cab company and hope one of very few available cars would show up in the time promised. Fast forward four years: millions of citizens in more than 40 cities around the world now access safe, convenient, and efficient transportation with the touch of a button on their smartphone.  

Uber Technologies does not own or operate vehicles, and we do not employ drivers, but our software connects those millions of customers with tens of thousands of licensed transportation providers and their drivers to increase their earning potential while making cities easier to get around.

I write today to tell you how excited I am about the prospect of bringing Uber’s services to Portland but unfortunately, outdated laws make that impossible. I’m asking for your help to bring Uber to Portland, a forward-thinking, tech-savvy city. We want to work with you to champion transportation innovation here.

Portions of Portland City Code Chapter 16.40 are meant to ensure that “the public safety is protected, the public need provided, and the public convenience promoted” but, as written, impose extreme limits on consumer choice and small business growth.

As currently written, Portland City Code:

• Stifles alternatives that provide quick, comfortable transportation. Under the current regulations, if you request a towncar now and it arrives in 10 minutes, you must wait an additional 50 minutes before you are legally allowed to enter the vehicle. If a customer is allowed in the car less than an hour after requesting the ride, the driver could face steep fines and suspension or revocation of their permit. The purpose of this language is to limit the quality of service for-hire sedans can provide.

• Stipulates that the fee charged by a towncar must be substantially higher than the prevailing taxi rate for the same trip. By setting prices artificially high, Portlanders’ ability to get for-hire transportation in and around the city is severely constrained, and drivers’ earning potential is artificially restricted. Why should only affluent people be able to get a quality ride? Why can’t a transportation provider offer quality service at the best possible price?

• Defines “executive sedan” as “a large expensive passenger sedan or full-sized sports utility vehicle.” This excludes eco-friendly transportation options and limits consumers to costly, fuel-inefficient transportation options. This runs contrary to Portland’s long-time goal of leading the nation in greenhouse gas reductions.

These outdated rules make citizens and drivers worse-off and prohibits sedan companies and drivers from providing quality service at the best possible price. We’re truly excited about the future of transportation in Portland and we hope to work with you and your colleagues to ensure that Uber can connect Rose City riders with high-quality transportation with the tap of an app.

What Is Uber? Uber is a technology company, not a transportation company. Uber is revolutionizing the way consumers have access to efficient, reliable, licensed and insured transportation. Like OpenTable for restaurants or Expedia for airline tickets, Uber is a facilitator of a quality experience, but does not provide actual transportation service. Uber does not own or operate vehicles and does not employ drivers. Rather, the app provides transportation companies with the ability to fill currently unutilized gaps in their bookings while connecting customers to the highest quality transportation with the fastest response time. For the cities it serves, Uber means faster economic development in both residential and business districts, job creation for small businesses and higher incomes for drivers who are, in turn, better able to support their families. This all occurs in a way that prioritizes quality, convenience and safety for consumers and adds new transportation capacity, particularly valuable for a vibrant city like Portland.

Where Is Uber? North America Atlanta Baltimore Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Detroit Hamptons Honolulu Indianapolis Los Angeles Mexico City Minneapolis New York City Orange County Philadelphia Phoenix Providence Sacramento San Diego San Francisco Seattle Toronto Washington, D.C. Europe, Middle East & Africa Amsterdam Berlin Cape Town Dubai Johannesburg London Lyon Milan Munich Paris Rome Stockholm Zurich Asia Pacific Bangalore Melbourne Seoul Shanghai Singapore Sydney Taipei

How Does Uber Work? Customers create a pre-arranged reservation through the free Uber smartphone app. The nearest driver is alerted and given the customer’s info and pickup location through the free Uber driver app. The Uber driver app uses GPS to collect data, which is then forwarded to Uber’s servers for accurate billing and receipt generation.

ONE TAP TO RIDE RELIABLE PICKUPS

CLEAR PRICING CASHLESS & CONVENIENT

FEEDBACK MATTERS SPLIT YOUR FARE

Who Are Uber’s Partner Drivers? Uber partners with drivers who care about their riders and have a passion for the trade. From insurance to background checks, every driver meets all local regulations. Rider feedback helps us work with drivers to constantly improve the Uber experience.

 

Community Change.org Petition

Source: http://www.change.org/petitions/uber-bring-uber-to-portland-oregon

Letter from the Technology Association of Oregon

Letter from the Portland Business Alliance

Letter from Portland Startups & Entrepreneurs

Mayor  Charlie  Hales  City  of  Portland  1221  SW  4th  Avenue,  Room  340  Portland,  OR  97204    September  18,  2013      Dear  Mayor  Hales,    As  you  are  well  aware,  Portland  is  one  of  the  nation’s  hottest  startup  hubs.  From  software  and  social  media  to  data  analytics  and  digital  strategy,  the  Rose  City’s  startups  are  dynamic  and  thriving  –  and  a  confluence  of  factors  has  made  Portland  a  great  place  to  grow.  The  city’s  collegial  and  collaborative  business  environments  along  with  the  presence  and  interest  of  venture  capital  firms,  incubators,  and  accelerators  have  helped  local  entrepreneurs  develop  strong  foundations  for  young  businesses.    Our  reputation  as  the  ideal  place  to  launch  a  startup  is  spreading,  and  that’s  great  news  for  a  community  of  entrepreneurs  looking  to  make  their  mark  starting  right  here  in  Portland  –  and  it’s  great  news  for  our  economy.  That’s  why  we’re  disheartened  hear  that  a  company  like  Uber  is  locked  out  of  our  city  because  of  outdated  regulations  that  block  the  use  of  a  new  technology  platform  that  is  already  in  full  swing  in  more  than  40  locations,  including  other  competitive  startup  cities  like  Seattle  and  San  Francisco.    We  urge  you  to  update  these  outdated,  obstructionist  rules  that  are  holding  Portland  back  from  welcoming  emerging  technologies  that  would  give  people  additional  options  to  get  around  town.  Not  only  do  we  love  using  Uber  in  other  cities  and  want  to  build  our  businesses  in  a  place  that  offers  our  vendors,  customers  and  investors  the  best  transportation  options,  we  also  want  to  maintain  and  grow  our  reputation  as  a  community  that’s  ready  for  what’s  next.    Like  Uber’s  founders,  we  are  all  innovators.  We  are  constantly  looking  toward  the  horizon  to  see  the  future  and  it’s  clear  to  us  that  the  way  we  use  for-­‐hire  transportation  services  is  changing.  Technology  and  innovation  is  leading  the  way.    Let’s  continue  to  be  a  place  that  embraces  better,  consumer-­‐friendly,  new  ways  of  doing  business.    Sincerely,          Nitin  Khanna  CEO  &  Founder,  MergerTech  

Scott  Kveton  CEO  &  Founder,  Urban  Airship  

Josh  Friedman    CEO,  Gigapan  

Bill  Lynch  Founder,  Jive  Software  

Eli  Rubel    CEO  &  Founder,  Glider  

Luke  Kanies    Founder,  Puppet  Labs  

Ryan  Hildebrand    VP,  Simple  

Ryan  Buchanan  CEO  &  Founder,  eROI  

Mat  Ellis  Founder,  Cloudability  

Mitch  Daugherty  Founder,  Morange  Design  

Tom  Turnbull    VP,  OpenSesame  

Joshua  Blank    SVP,  OpenSesame    

Jeff  Martens  CEO,  CPUSage  

Eli  Tucker    Co-­‐Founder,  Vizify  

Tyler  McKinley    CEO,  MobileRQ  

Huston  Hedinger    Founder,  GraphAlchemist    

Tyler  Phillipi    Co-­‐Founder  OnTheGo  Platforms  

Eric  Winquist  CEO,  Jama  Software  

Kelly  Perkel    ShowPad  

Ben  McKinley  Founder,  Cascade  Web  Dev.  

Neil  Lofgren    Co-­‐Founder,  4-­‐Tell  

Nat  Parker  Founder  &  CEO,  GlobeSherpa  

Greg  Rau  CEO  &  Founder,  Upstart  Labs  

Jim  Cahill    CEO,  InGrid  Solutions  

Eli  Alford-­‐Jones    CEO,  Paydici  

Fritz  Brumder  CEO,  Brandlive  

   

   

 

Press The Oregonian, August 2013 Tech Biz vs. Portland's taxi regulations By The Oregonian Editorial Board "Nimble" is one word few would use to describe Portland's heavily regulated taxi industry. It took the city more than a dozen years to increase the number of taxi permits despite a shortage that had "a negative impact on response times and quality of service," according to a 2012 Revenue Bureau report. And when the city did deepen the pool of taxis last year, a number of cab drivers sued, claiming the competition would affect their ability to make a living. The cabbies lost, but even with 78 new permits Portland has more residents per taxi than the dozen comparison cities included in last year's report. We wouldn't call Portland a "taxi desert," but still .... In such a constrained marketplace, it's not outlandish to believe there might be consumer demand for services provided by companies like Uber, the controversial Bay Area developer of software that allows people to hail for-hire transportation with their smartphones. Uber, in fact, has set its sights on Portland, to which end it has asked city officials to loosen regulations that protect the taxi industry from competition by other forms of for-hire transportation. Uber, which specializes in stepping on regulators' toes, is known neither for its tact nor its modesty. But is its request reasonable? That depends upon your point of view. What the company would like, representatives explained to The Oregonian editorial board last month, is to allow people to use its service to hail nearby town cars. Town cars, which provide upscale transportation via reservation, are regulated more loosely than taxis and must abide by a handful of restrictions preventing direct competition. As a result, town cars must charge more than taxis for similar trips, and -- the biggest obstacle to services like Uber's -- an hour must elapse between a call for service and a behind in a seat. You can see the problem: Tech-savvy traveler summons town car; town car shows up one minute later; tech-savvy traveler looks at car for 59 more minutes before climbing in. The traveler would be better off summoning one of the city's relatively scarce taxis, which also can be done using a smartphone, says Kathleen Butler, regulatory division manager within the Revenue Bureau. City officials can offer reasonable arguments in support of Portland's regulatory system, notwithstanding the sclerosis it has produced. Taxis enjoy a degree of protection from competitive pressure, explains Butler, because the city considers them an extension of its public transportation system and regulates them accordingly. For instance, taxi drivers can't turn down fares. Taxis must have top lights and meters, and the companies that operate them must offer dispatch services 24 hours a day. Such requirements are intended to protect consumers, as are regulations that stifle competition. If you destabilize the taxi business, the argument goes, you threaten a service upon which some people depend.

From this perspective, allowing town cars to eat into the taxi business would be unfair. But there is another perspective, and it, too, is reasonable. While the city argues that consumer protection is the primary motivation behind its regulatory scheme, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick claims in a letter to Commissioner Steve Novick that the scheme is "designed to protect the taxi industry." Those who hold this point of view could certainly find support for it in the city's own work, which determined last year that "Portland lags far behind comparable cities in numbers of taxi vehicles per population," with the predictable effect on service quality. The system, in other words, appears to work better for holders of taxi permits than it does for consumers. If consumers want something different -- an Uber-type smartphone service, for instance -- it's up to them to demand it. As with any policy shift, this one would involve tradeoffs. What might be good for some consumers and town car drivers would likely be less good for taxi companies and some of their customers. There's something to be said, however, for pushing back against a regulatory system that has produced a comparative taxi shortage while standing in the way of a service many people may want. The Oregonian, August 2013 The utility of Uber Regarding the editorial "Tech biz vs. Portland's taxis" (Aug. 2): I use Uber's smartphone app in Seattle. I live in Portland, but work four days a week, every week, in downtown Seattle. I fly in, so I have no car. Taxi drivers don't see me waving, and they don't come when I call. With Uber, it's not just town cars, either. I typically request a Prius. Uber displays the nearby cars on a moving map on my smartphone, and when I request one, I get the ETA, a photo, the name of the driver and the license plate number. When I arrive, I hop out, say "Thank you and goodbye," and Uber automatically charges my credit card. I get an email receipt in my inbox immediately. My Seattle co-workers who commute to Portland always rent cars. The MAX doesn't go everywhere, and hailing taxis is just time-consuming. Give Portland Uber. CHRISTINE SWAN, Southwest Portland The Oregonian, August 2013 Taxi alternative Regarding the editorial "Tech biz vs. Portland's taxis" (Aug. 2): I used Uber in Los Angeles a month and a half ago. It was the easiest, quickest and cleanest transportation ever. This was before the LA taxi drivers pitched a fit, kicking their feet and screaming about unfair competition. Competition it surely is, but it's not unfair. Taxis seem to have an unfair, verging on antitrust, hold on the industry. Try Uber; you'll like it and you'll never take a taxi again. SHARII E. REY, Beaverton