Gov. Bill Walker signed legislation Thursday paving way for ride-share companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to operate in Alaska.
The companies dispatch private cars to act as taxis via smartphone app. Passengers are billed electronically and private drivers receive a portion of the fare.
But the new state law signed by the governor precludes local governments from regulating the ride-share companies except by ballot measure.
And that’s led to opposition from cities – including Juneau, whose manager had urged the governor not to sign the bill.
But now that it’s law the city will try to iron out issues directly with the companies.
Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove said there are concerns.
“Particularly in the cruise ship area,” she said. “I think we’ll try to work with them to come up with an agreement that will best serve the needs of that particular area”
The Alaska Municipal League, which represents local governments, also lobbied against the bill.
“The issue is not them coming into town,” Executive Director Kathie Wasserman said. “The issue is them coming into town and having the Legislature exempt them from any municipal or local government ordinance. That we have a problem with. We should all be lucky enough to come into a town and say, ‘Yeah, I don’t feel like playing by those rules.’ And so we get exempted? I mean, that’s just not the way things work.”
A delegation from the San Francisco-based Uber recently met with city officials in Juneau to discuss concerns about congestion around cruise ship ports and the city-run airport.
The company says it plans to begin service in Juneau on Monday.
Uber’s competitor, Lyft also is talking to officials in Juneau.
“You know we’re constantly looking to work with city officials to make sure that we’re operating in a way that’s helpful to the city,” Lyft spokesman Scott Coriell said. “We also want to make sure that people have access to our service and are able to get to where they need to go.”
Juneau’s airport board recently proposed imposing a $3 surcharge on all pickups and drop-offs at the passenger terminal.
But it’s unclear whether that would be enforceable under state law.
