Portland Officials Finalize Plan for Uber; Data Questions Linger

City also announces Uber's payment of a $67,750 fine.

HELL ON WHEELS: Taxis jammed Pioneer Courthouse Square on Jan. 13 as cabbies protested what they fear will be Uber's unjust takeover of the market. The protest was organized by the Transportation Fairness Alliance, a coalition of five local cab companies. "We feel that Uber has been very good at getting their message across," says spokesman Noah Ernst. "They have a lot of money to throw at it. They hire publicists and lobbyists, right up to the former head of Obama's campaign."
By ANNA WALTERS
The city of Portland announced Monday that the ride-hailing service Uber has paid $67,750 in fines accrued during the month of December, when the company picked up passengers without city approval.

The payment is another sign that Uber's conflict with the city, which flared late last year when Commissioner Steve Novick pledged a short-lived crackdown, is now in the rear-view mirror. 
 
That was the biggest piece of news to come out of a press conference Monday called to address Portland's plan to regulate Uber. Uber and other ride-hailing services will be allowed back to town this month for a 120-day pilot program.

The recommendations from a city task force—to be voted on by the City Council on April 15—solidified rules officials previously presented in draft form, including Uber's use of controversial “surge pricing” and the taxi industry's ability to have limitless cabs during the pilot period.

As usual, the devil is in the details, or in this case, the data. 

Mike Greenfield, the task force's chairman, said ride data collected during the pilot program would allow the Portland Bureau of Transportation to decide what to do with Uber in the long run. That includes rules around serving passengers with disabilities and the cost of “for-hire” vehicle permits. 

But will cab and ride-hailing companies cough up the data? That's still unclear.

Greenfield said PBOT staff "will develop ways to ensure they are getting the data in an accurate way” from the various for-hire companies. 

But no one knows quite yet whether Uber, Lyft and the cab companies will comply with any city-imposed reporting requirements.

PBOT spokesman Dylan Rivera is hopeful companies will cooperate. 

“We are receiving indications," Rivera said at the press conference,  "that the industry is interested in complying.”

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