Rep. seeks public input on UBER

if city council tightens regulations, like taxi drivers are asking for. but uber says it’s not a taxi service … it’s an app that puts passengers in touch with drivers. abc 7’s stephanie guadian is live tonight as the battle heats up. city representative cortney niland posted a survey on social media asking if el pasoans want to keep uber. we’ve since shared that survey on kvia.com. the reaction so far is decidedly one- sided. do you want uber to stay in el paso? niland poses that question on her facebook page. nearly 13 hundred people have answered in less than 24 hours— and 97 percent say yes! niland hopescity council takes that into consideration– when considering possible regulations. niland 8:23 i believe it’s premature. and i think at this particular time i think what we should do.. is look toward our state legislators who have said hey, we are going to address this is the next legislative session.8:34 one commenter says: please keep uber, i beg of you” this is my son’s only reliable and timely form of transportation when he can’t get a ride to work or classes at utep from family, friends, or sun metro. it’s also helped keep a lot of drunk drivers off the streets. but taxi drivers hope council will regulate uber: “we are just asking that they get the same regulation as us, they can work, just not the way they work now.” another commente says : it is not about the service they provide or if they are keeping out drunk drivers, the problem here is that this company or the people who work for them don’t pay taxes, they don’t pay any city permits, they don’t go through inspections. a revised ordinance would require cab companies and uber to operate under the same rules. niland thinks the best answer may be to deregulate taxis so they can keep up with uber. 6:35 if it right now is at a point where it is too onerous and the restrictions are too hard for this industry to be competive, let’s dial it back a little bit. 6:42 council is set to vote on it may 17th. they could vote to regulate uber, not to regulate the company– or deregulate cabs. we’ve put a poll on our website, if you want weigh in. if you are just joing us, doppler dave is keeping that abc-