- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of South Florida and help keep the future of New Times free.
Broward commissioners voted on Tuesday to have a final vote for a new, lax law that would allow Uber to return to the county. As has always been the case whenever the commissioners meet to discuss the ride-sharing app company's operations, many citizens showed up to voice their opinion, with the majority of the opposition coming from the taxi industry.
The four-and-a-half-hour discourse ended with commissioners voting 6-3 in favor of taking a final vote for new rules that would allow Uber to operate under a Level I background check, as opposed to Level II, which would have required their background checks to be fingerprint-based and would have to go through the county first.
Uber has been at odds with Broward officials, as well as Palm
Uber has long said that the regulations imposed on it would cripple the way the ride-sharing company conducts business in a community that has embraced it.
"The ordinance is very detrimental to our ability to continue providing safe, reliable rides and economic opportunity the residents of Broward County have come to expect," Uber spokesperson Kaitlin
Knowing that it has the backing of the community, Uber has asked customers via email invitations to appear at commission meetings to voice their opinions.
"Your County Commissioners need to hear from you to understand how eliminating access to safe, reliable transportation has impacted you and your family," read one such email. "Join us at the hearing, where you’ll be able to share the challenges you now face without access to safe rides at the touch of a button."
The idea behind the county's original regulations was to require local, state, and national criminal records of anyone applying for
As part of the new, more lax measure, the commissioners are asking Uber to pay a percentage of its revenue to the county from fares made at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades, which is a rule the county holds taxi and limo services to.
The final vote is scheduled for September 17.
Keep New Times Broward-Palm Beach Free... Since we started New Times Broward-Palm Beach, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering South Florida with no paywalls.