Lyft, Uber Bill Passes Alabama House

MONTGOMERY, AL - A bill that would make doing business in Alabama cities easier on companies like Lyft and Uber has passed the Alabama House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority. The bill was introduced in last year's legislative session but a vote was not taken on it.

Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing services currently operate in a handful of the state's largest cities, but the companies have found various hoops to jump through in order to do business in the state. In fact, getting Uber to Birmingham was a long and drawn-out process involving city council arguments, opposition by taxi representatives and more politics than Uber executives were likely used to. However, in December of 2016 the city council finally allowed Uber to operate in Birmingham, and Lyft soon followed.

This bill would prevent such obstacles in the future. Sponsored by Rep. David Faulkner of Mountain Brook, the bill would allow the companies to operate statewide under the regulation of the Public Service Commission, which would receive a 1 percent fee on each fare that ride-sharing companies collect.

"We need a consistent uniform network for drivers and riders to operate under," Faulkner said. "And my bill would pay these cities that already have contracts more than what their current contracts pay out."

Faulkner said the revenue from the transportation networks will be distributed to the cities where the rides originate.

"Most of these contracts (already in place) are about $5,000 to $10,000," he said. "We are taking 1 percent of all the rides and giving it to the Public Service Commission, and taking the rest and distributing it to the cities where these rides are happening."

The bill would replace any existing contracts with individual cities and give a uniform contract to all cities in Alabama that want to take advantage of the services these networks provide.

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