Outside City Hall on Monday, Boston taxi drivers were making their voices heard. Inside a packed City Council chamber, however, Council President Bill Linehan made it clear that the day's hearing was all about listening.
"This is about testimony," he told the chamber. "Hearing from all of you and then us gathering this information and coming away with a position. Maybe a regulation, maybe an ordinance."
"All of you" included members of the mayor’s taxi industry task force, law enforcement, taxi unions, and the two ride-sharing car services disrupting the taxi industry in cities across the country: Uber and Lyft.
Taxis in Boston are heavily regulated and both owners and drivers face a myriad of ongoing fees. Lyft and UberX drivers pay no such fees. They are not regulated by the city. And they transport passengers in personally owned cars with non-commercial plates.
Donna Blythe Shaw, a representative of the Boston Taxi Drivers Association, said this is a clear violation of the law.
"Innovation is not the issue; it’s defying the laws on the books and taking money out of the pockets of hard working taxi drivers who follow the rules," she said.
Most councilors agreed Linehan that it’s high time to level the playing field.
"It’s clear to me this issue is not settled, obviously," he said. "We haven’t figured out a true level playing framework for us to operate rides for hire in our city."
One thing became clear at the hearing: The council realized this is a problem for the city of Boston. Now comes the hard part. They have to figure out how to solve it.
