Facing legal challenges across the globe, ride-hail giant Uber and major competitor Lyft recently got a boost from the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Commissioners voted 10-2 in favor of an ordinance lifting restrictions for the ride-hail companies to operate in the tourist-rich Miami market. It was the first reading of the ordinance before the county commission.

Uber, which has employed a sizable lobbying effort across the globe, got what it wanted most: a provision that insurance for its drivers would only be required when its drivers were in service, not 24 hours a day.

The ordinance does require ride-hail drivers to obtain a county license, undergo background tests and submit to annual safety inspections.

Commissioner Estevan Bovo proposed the ordinance and contended that ride-hail drivers are primarily part-time drivers who also use their vehicles for regular non-commercial purposes.

Cab companies have complained, saying that they have to carry 24/7 insurance on their cabs and the ordinance gives the ride-hail drivers a competitive advantage.

Under the proposed ordinance, Uber and Lyft drivers will be able to pick up and drop off at Miami International Airport, but only when summoned. They will not be allowed to congregate at the airport and be hailed from curbside, as taxis are.

The ordinance requires that cabs, by this fall, get outfitted with apps that allow customers to summon and track them, just as they do Uber drivers.

Commission Chairman Jean Monestime pulled his ordinance, which proposed the toughest regulations on Uber and other ride-sharing companies, off the table. Bovo and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez joined forces to offer the now passed ordinance to ensure Uber remained in the county.

Dozens of Uber and Lyft drivers crowded into the Stephen P. Clark Center to express concern about what they perceived to be over-regulation proposed in Chairman Monestime’s ordinance.

Monestime wanted the drivers to have insurance at all times, even when not driving their vehicles, and also wanted government-ordered background checks for all the drivers.
Taxi companies say they want a level playing field.

“What Uber has invented is not a taxi ride. What they’ve invented is how to skirt the laws of our government, not pay the airport or anybody fees, not have any background checks, so you can throw any warm body behind a car, and that’s an atrocity to the riding public of this county,” said Diego Feliciano, President of South Florida Taxicab Association.

Bovo says the commission is trying to craft an ordinance that is fair.

“We’ve met with taxi industry leaders. We’ve met with limousine industry leaders, trying to craft a holistic view of how can we move the dial in this important piece of legislation,” said Bovo.

Workshops and a final vote on the proposed ordinance are scheduled in March.

While the state’s largest metro market is developing an ordinance, the Florida Legislature is also tackling the ride-hail issue.

Legislators have submitted several bills that would regulate the ride-hail companies operating in Florida.

One Senate bill would set insurance coverage for times when Uber or Lyft drivers have passengers in the vehicles, are traveling to pick up passengers or are logged on to the services while waiting for customers, much like the Miami-Dade proposed ordinance.

But the Senate measure doesn’t include provisions in the House proposal that would create statewide regulations for the app-based companies or establish background-check requirements on new drivers.

Sen. David Simmons said he’s willing to “sit down and talk” with his House counterparts to discuss such provisions as long as they create a “level playing field” with traditional cab companies.

“I would be happy to find something that is a fair, across-the-board requirement for taxi cabs, for their background checks, for other items that relate to safety for passenger and pedestrians and of course the drivers themselves,” Simmons said.

The House proposal, which has been opposed by the Florida Association of Counties, includes preempting local-government rules about the services and would require Uber and other app-based companies to pay annual fees of $5,000 to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Some cab companies pay more than $100,000 annually in fees with cities and counties.