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Connecticut Lawmakers Consider Ride-Share Regulations

Two proposed bills this session contain new regulations, but some on the state's Transportation Committee are awaiting a DOT-commissioned ride-sharing study before deciding the direction of possible new legislation.

(TNS) -- Uber, the upstart ride-sharing company, made a pitch to state lawmakers on Tuesday, claiming that it is very different from traditional taxis and limousines. But members of the legislative Transportation Committee aren't so sure.

And taxi and livery companies warned that Uber may be under-insuring its drivers, improperly inspecting vehicles, gouging customers and even red-lining whole inner-city neighborhoods where they say Uber drivers won't pick up passengers.

Speaking during an informational hearing in the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday, Nicole Benincasa, a policy and regulatory associate for Uber Technologies Inc., said the ride-share program is a way for people to save money, to conveniently call for a ride and even avoid driving while intoxicated.

The part-time Uber drivers are alerted via computer to the location of passengers throughout the country who can save up to 50 percent on lifts in 24 jurisdictions, including states and localities. On each ride, Uber, which has been operating in Connecticut for about a year, makes 20 percent of the revenue and the drivers keep the rest, with weekly direct deposits.

Benincasa said that drivers are subjected to background checks and insurance requirements and vehicles are limited to only a few years of age. She said that while Uber has million-dollar insurance policies for drivers, Connecticut cabs only have $100,000 in liability coverage.

Under questioning from Rep. Tom O'Dea, R-New Canaan, ranking member of the committee, Benincasa said that Uber, which has been banned from the campus of Quinnipiac University, would like to reach out to the institution. But when he asked whether Uber collects taxes for rides, she said she didn't know.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, ranking member of the committee, said that on a recent trip to Houston, she estimated that her Uber ride-share easily saved her half of what a taxi would have cost, but she was concerned about the security of her credit-card information.

There are three levels of Uber service. The lowest, which starts with a $2 charge, increases over time and distance for a minimum of $5. The "black" level uses a limousine-style vehicle or a Cadillac Escalade, with a starting price of $15. At the highest level, a ride in a six-passenger SUV starts at $25.

Rep. Joe Verrigna, D-West Hartford, a committee member, said it seems that Uber was dodging the kind of laws, including vehicle inspections, to which taxis and limousines have to comply.

"On the face of it, it seems like you're circumventing regulations," he said.

Kevin Moore, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition for Safe Public Transportation, representing traditional taxi and livery services, said in written testimony presented to the committee that services including Lyft and the $41 billion Uber "bear none of the accountability and expense protecting passengers."

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, said he called the informational meeting to acquaint lawmakers with the issues. There are two proposed bills this session that could contain new regulations, depending on the will of the committee.

"I think it was important that people understand what Uber is all about, what their business philosophy is and how it works in the state of Connecticut," Guerrera said after the meeting. He is awaiting a state Department of Transportation study of ride sharing that should be completed by next week before he decides on the direction of possible new legislation.

"Do we need to put different regulations in for Uber or different ride-share programs?" Guerrera said.

State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, a member of the committee, said he was surprised when he found that Uber was operating in Connecticut and believes more state oversight may be needed.

"I think all of the standards have to be met by anybody who is participating in these ride-share schemes," Frantz said in an interview. "If there are a lot of good, solid rules that bring their service up to the standards that we want to have today, maybe there is room for them. But I don't think they can come into a state without going into the regulatory approval process."

©2015 the Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, Conn.)