in a recent interview with the Memphis Flyer. "They're everyday residents who are able to, after passing our rigorous background checks, drive when they have the time, to make ends meet." Uber and Lyft already require more stringent background checks than the city requires, according to company representatives. The city would prefer to use fingerprints to check for criminal records, but Uber and Lyft’s current method of using credit checks lets the company know both criminal records and pending crimes. “We are not anti-regulation in any capacity,” said Billy Guernier, GM for Regional Expansion at Uber. “We are simply for regulation that makes sense. In a lot of cities, it is just a case of the laws having to adapt to transportation network companies as a new entity that does not make sense in the old structure of their regulations.” Memphis City Councilman Kemp Conrad has been a key figure in the local efforts to find a middle ground with ridesharing services.
As the ordinance currently stands at the time of this writing, ridesharing providers would be required to certify under oath that they had
most cities’ efforts, and drivers carry their own
these services here,” said Councilman Conrad.
insurance on their vehicles.
“It would be devastating to Memphis and our
The ridesharing industry got off to a bumpy
citizens. These services have just become a basic
start in Memphis. In the summer of 2014, the Memphis International Airport informed Uber
expectation amongst business travelers, young people, and tourists when visiting or considering
performed background checks, and would also make personnel records available to the city on request, according to Conrad. The new ordinance would also set up a standard insurance model that all ridesharing services must follow and would ban the drivers from accepting on-
and Lyft that their drivers would not be allowed
relocating to a major city like Memphis.”
to pickup or dropoff customers at the airport
One problem area involves the submission of
come through the companies’ smartphone-based
and issued cease and desist letters to Uber and
drivers’ personal information to the city. Both
apps. Additionally, to operate in Memphis, Uber,
Lyft, which both companies ignored. Talks and
Conrad and the ridesharing representatives
Lyft and other ridesharing companies will have
negotiations finally began, but as in other cities
have said it’s unrealistic to expect Uber and Lyft
to pay a $15,000 registration fee every calendar
across the nation, it has not been as fast or easy to
drivers to meet the same standards as taxi and
year except the first, which will be pro-rated.
adapt existing policies and regulations to the new
limousine drivers, because they are often just
Ridesharing companies also will have to “provide
ridesharing industry.
part-time employees with other full-time jobs.
for and require” the annual inspection of their
Memphis City Councilman Kemp Conrad has
Chelsea Wilson, a spokeswoman for Lyft, said
drivers’ vehicles and give the city annual reports
been a key figure in the local efforts to find a
they worked with the city to help draft the
showing rider pickup and dropoff patterns, cost
middle ground. Conrad worked for months to
ordinance.
of trip and length of trip.
finalize the details of a proposed ordinance and
"We're not opposed to regulation. We want to
In addition to being a popular service for young
make sure that any regulations recognize the
professionals and law students, ridesharing
difference in our model and understand that our
services also serve as an easy way to supplement
drivers are not professional drivers," Wilson said
income for those with spare time. However,
amendment that would update taxi and limousine regulation for the new transportation era. “It would be an absolute travesty if we lose 19
the-street hailing, meaning that all fares must