Uber responds to Orlando's pending ride-share regulations

Ride-sharing service app Uber has a few more bridges to cross before it can operate properly in Orlando — and it will face one of its biggest obstacles next week.

The San Francisco-based company that launched in Orlando in June will meet with the city council Dec. 8 for a hearing to further discuss permits and ride regulations. Depending on what regulations the city decides upon, it may force the company to leave Orlando — a move that may cost many existing and potential Uber drivers their jobs, company executives said.

The service, which is in 238 cities in 48 states and is 30 percent cheaper than taxis in Orlando, faces possibly being hit with regulations that would raise its fares 25 percent higher than taxis.

The city of Orlando said the proposed regulations for taxis and other vehicles for hire such as Uber would remove the requirements for advanced booking other than by electronic app and remove the requirement to post rates outside of vehicles.

The proposed regulations also would create a new "livery" vehicle classification for services like Uber, which are not required to operate 24/7, saying they should have a minimum fare set 25 percent above taxi rates of $2.40 per mile, which means Uber would have to charge $3 per mile minimum; prohibit discrimination in service; and do driver background checks and vehicle inspections. They also would be required to have a local office or a process for the return of lost property and receipt of complaints.

Here, Uber's East Coast public policy lead, Jillian Irvin, answers a few questions about the issue:

What are your thoughts about the pending Dec. 8 hearing with Orlando City Council? The legislation that's being introduced on Monday is completely backwards thinking. They claim to have been spending the entire summer since April looking at best practices throughout the country of how ride-sharing has been regulated, and what this is doing is basically shoehorning us back to regulation that were written in the '70s.

Richardson is a general assignment reporter for online and print.