San Antonio’s mayor and City Council will once again take up the issue of rideshare regulation on Thursday. We – the CEOs of Rackspace, Broadway Bank, Nustar Energy, CST Brands, Frost Bank, Argo Group, and Santikos Theatres and the chairman emeritus of AT&T – strongly encourage the council to join the more than 200 communities in America who have drafted regulations that meet the safety needs of their communities while meeting the needs of rideshare companies Uber and Lyft and their customers. We have countless models across the country to follow. A resolution is on the table and now is the time to get it done. Our businesses and the city need rideshare to compete as the 21st century unfolds.
Our companies — and our city — are in a war for talent. The simple truth is San Antonio is behind in providing many of the urban elements expected by the next generation of talent. We have work to do on our general livability and cultural attractions. But, the absence of Uber and Lyft, while new to most, is inexplicable to this generation of talent. They have come to rely on it and view it as an essential service of any city. We need to get past this issue and start tackling the bigger, harder challenges.
The lack of rideshare in San Antonio hurts our businesses and city in multiple ways. First, our current employees rely on these services in all sorts of ways that go way beyond the traditional concept of the taxi. Whether forgoing a rental while their car is in the shop or skipping parking at the Spurs game or making Saturday night safe for everyone, users have made Uber and Lyft part of life in our community when they were operating here. These new services change how their users think about transportation and will open up whole new models of car ownership and citizen mobility.
Second, rideshare has an impact on those we hope to win over to our companies. Whether it is a recruit coming to town or a partner we hope to attract to do business in our city, we constantly hear how frustrating it is to be here without these service. And, don’t think this is just confined to the recruits and partners of tech companies like Rackspace. All of us feel it. In fact, it was just reported that Uber alone now exceeds taxi use nationwide for business travelers. It is no fun to start these important meetings with apologies about how hard it was to get to us.
Finally, not having rideshare available in San Antonio sends an unfortunate message about the trajectory of our city. Communities across the U.S. realize that rideshare brings reduced DUIs and traffic deaths along with new employment opportunities for their citizens. The benefits to our city for this type of technology are tremendous and sustaining. Embracing them signals our willingness to lean in to innovation and embrace new disruptive ways of building and growing our city.
Uber and Lyft are not perfect companies and they need some oversight. But, over 200 cities, including all the other cities in Bexar County, have embraced these services and had successful results. Last year in San Antonio, Uber and Lyft were delivering almost 15,000 rides a week — without one 911 complaint. We applaud the Mayor Ivy Taylor and City Council’s work over the past few months to get Uber and Lyft to agree to revised operating agreements. We encourage the city council to embrace these modifications and get these valuable services back online to benefit both the citizens and our overall economy.
*Featured/top image: San Antonio’s downtown skyline, looking southeast from the top of the Weston Centre. Photo by Kara Gomez.
Related Stories:
TechBloc Rally Fills Pearl, Mayor Hints at Date with Uber
Rideshare to Come Back to San Antonio, Pending Council Approval
Yep, I’ve loved using these services as recently as last week in several other great cities across the country. Makes SA, again, look like they have no interest in advancement.
? Isn’t Lyft back already?
And being that it is the 7th largest city in the US. We also need MASS transit. A rail train would really put SA in the big leagues. I know I would take the train from here in Schertz to downtown. Instead of driving the 24 miles one way. Be progressive San Antonians. NOT regressive. OR too conservative.
I think of traditional cabbies and I remember all the faraway developing countries where I placed my trust in them with much more than a ride on the line. I think of Uber and Lyft and I remember the intoxicated man who walked up to me with a fryolater can demanding I get in my car in the dark with him to go “find” gas. Uhhh, no. Uhh, Hell no. I `m not taking a ride with someone that has no professional license any more than I`m giving my life savings to a bank that has no accreditation….
What happens if the courts decide that these ride-hailing companies are employers and must pay their drivers a living wage with benefits? Will these business leaders still be cheering for Lyft and Uber?
I hate to be pedantic. All the Revard Report reporters are great with descriptions of what’s going on. But Lyft and Uber ARE NOT rideshare, they are Transportation Network Companies.
That’s what they call themselves. That’s what they are. Rideshare actually exists, and it is a cooperative free sharing/barter system that these companies don’t provide. Even if Lyft started that way giving free rides when it started the first week or so. It shouldn’t be conflated. It makes it seem like you don’t understand the concept of what they do – which might be part of the issue as to why they are having a problem in San Antonio. It’s all too new too fast.
sorry, can’t edit my posts when the phone bounces… Rivard Report
How about a city run ride share program and we just not worry about uber or lyft?
And as others mentioned we should also be talking about the rail systems, such as the lone star one that has been proposed.
Any time I run across comments from people going on and on about why they wouldn’t use the service, i wonder if they think making the service available makes it somehow mandatory. Don’t dig TNCs? Don’t use them.
“Communities across the U.S. realize that rideshare brings reduced DUIs and traffic deaths along with new employment opportunities for their citizens.”
[citation needed]
In return, here’s a nice compilation of the results of their “background checks.” http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents
If VIA ran later at night, it would allow hospitality workers to avoid the expense of owning motor vehicles and driving.