Seattle rideshare ordinance suspended
Apr 17, 2014, 4:15 PM | Updated: 9:48 pm
The City of Seattle's rideshare ordinance has been suspended. (AP)
(AP)
The City of Seattle’s rideshare ordinance has been suspended.
UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar combined to gather signatures for a referendum that would ask voters to block an ordinance regulating the rideshare companies. They handed in more than 36,000 signatures, while just 16,510 are needed to qualify for the ballot.
The law, approved by the city council last month, would limit each of three rideshare companies to 150 drivers on the road at a time. Taxi companies are already limited in the number of licenses issued.
The new regulations were supposed to take effect next month, but they’ve been suspended and Mayor Ed Murray wants to work with all parties to reach a new agreement, according to GeekWire.
Murray says taxis and rideshare companies “have all agreed to enter into a 45-day negotiation process to work toward a proposal that is acceptable to all the stakeholders and to City Council.”
GeekWire says if there’s an agreement during that time, the council can repeal the ordinance and work on a new set of regulations.
The city still needs to certify the signatures, but the clerk staff is counting the petitions and will estimate the number of qualifying signatures. The King County Records and Elections office will conduct the actual signature validation with “reasonable promptness.”
KIRO Radio’s Tim Haeck contributed to this report.
