Uber wants to serve Pasco even as Olympia mulls new law

A regional executive for Uber isn’t giving up on smartphone-based taxi service in Pasco.

Alex Diaz, territory manager for the San Francisco-based ride-hailing service, said he remains optimistic Pasco will join Richland and Kennewick and adapt its taxi ordinances to allow Internet-based transportation companies to pick up passengers in its jurisdiction.

Diaz spoke generally about Uber’s local operations with reporters Wednesday after he gave a keynote speech at the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce annual luncheon in Kennewick.

Diaz told the chamber crowd that he had been told not to say much about Uber, which has drawn headlines in recent weeks for multiple missteps, including the disclosure that it uses tracking technology called “greyball” to evade regulators.

Diaz kept his word, sticking to the main talking point: innovation.

Diaz said the exact scale of Uber’s operation is a competitive secret, but he said several hundred drivers operate in the Tri-Cities, offering several thousand rides a week.

Its operation can be confusing. It can pick up passengers in Benton County, including Richland, Kennewick and West Richland but not in Pasco. It can drop passengers off at any destination they wish, including Pasco.

The stalemate with Pasco centers on fingerprint checks for drivers. A divided city council couldn’t agree on an ordinance without them, and Diaz affirmed that fingerprinting drivers is a deal-killer.

“We just can’t operate in a market that has fingerprint checks,” he said.

Diaz hopes Uber’s operations in Benton County will persuade Pasco to allow Internet-based transportation services.

In the interim, a bill pending in the 2017 Washington Legislature would create uniform regulations for Uber and similar transportation network companies. If approved, it will remove the need to pursue local-level approval.

Substitute Senate Bill 5620 passed in the Senate on March 7 and is pending in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards, which held a hearing March 14.

The state law would require companies to pay a $5,000 annual permit fee and to establish zero alcohol and drug policies, as well as nondiscrimination policies for drivers, and other rules.

It sets minimum age requirements for drivers, mandates criminal background checks and requires an application that certifies drivers are physically and mentally fit to drive.

March 29 is the last day for most bills to pass out of committee during the legislative session.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Uber wants to serve Pasco even as Olympia mulls new law."