"Uber reached out to us, which I see as a positive thing," Dyer said Wednesday. "We're an aggressively technology-centric city, and Uber is the new thing right now, with a new way of doing things."
Uber has upended the decades-old taxi-and-limo system with its UberX business model of using a smartphone app that connects passengers to regular folks willing to use their personal vehicles to give them a ride for a fee.
Orlando's welcome has been friendlier than Uber has seen in some other cities.
Just this month, undercover cops impounded Uber drivers' vehicles in Miami. Virginia issued cease-and-desist warnings, which Pennsylvania is ready to do as well. And London cabbies shut down city streets in protest.
In Orlando, Dyer faces a delicate balance. On one side, there's City Hall's embrace of millennials and downtown tech startups. On the other are the city's tight regulations meant to ensure safe passage for the masses of tourists who climb into taxis in the world's biggest family tourist destination.
"A lot of our visitors are families, and when they step into a cab, they think it is safe, and they have a right to expect us to ensure that it is safe," City Attorney Mayanne Downs said. "We take that very seriously."
Uber launched its service in Orlando on June 4, disregarding city regulations requiring drivers to undergo police background checks and obtain a permit.
Uber's general manager in Orlando, Billy Guernier, said Uber shares the goal of a safe experience for customers and has its own process for ensuring that.
"We certainly don't see ourselves in a space where no one should ever develop regulations around it. We think that right now the regulations that exist just don't apply to ride-sharing," Guernier said.
In addition to insurance, annual driver permits and background checks conducted by the Orlando Police Department, the city also requires taxi companies to provide service 24-7 and prohibits drivers from declining to pick up someone, for instance, from a high-crime neighborhood or for a less profitable trip.
"It wouldn't be fair for Uber to cherry-pick the profitable business and leave the other transportation people with the obligation to take anybody, anytime, anyplace, anywhere," Downs said.
There's money at stake, too. The city collected $921,825 in fees from the taxi-and-limo industry last year.
And that pales in comparison to Orlando International Airport, where taxis and town cars pay a $3.15 access fee for every pickup. Including fees from taxis, shuttles and buses, the airport collected $10.1 million in vehicle-for-hire fees last year, money that's used to attract more airlines by offsetting airport landing fees.
Uber is avoiding those regulatory costs. Uber drivers are picking up fares at the airport, for instance, but they're avoiding the commercial lanes where taxicabs queue in favor of the same "arrivals" area where locals pick up visiting family.
"They are in clear violation," said Roger Chapin, an executive with Mears Transportation, which controls about half the taxi permits in Orlando. "Uber competes with us, and we're fine with that. But competing as it stands now — it's an unfair playing field. They're saying, 'We're going to call it something else and play catch us if you can.'"
Uber has an incentive to push its way into Orlando — 59 million visitors in 2013 — and the financial wherewithal to do it. The same week it began serving Orlando, Uber announced it had raised $1.2 billion from investors on a valuation of $17 billion. It's on an expansion tear, with Uber now in 60 cities in the U.S., 140 globally.
In Orlando, the company offers its UberX service, with everyday drivers in personal vehicles. In many other cities it offers UberBlack, featuring professional drivers. Uber's Guernier said "thousands" have applied to be drivers in Orlando, though it's not clear how many have made it through the process.
"We're really excited to help educate local officials on all of our efforts to make sure these trips are safe and it's reliable and as customer-friendly as possible," Guernier said. "We're happy to work with them to show them what we've done if they want to take a look at developing some rules around ride-sharing."
The mayor said Orlando is open to changing its regulations to accommodate Uber, as long as it doesn't mean compromising public safety. He'll be looking for more transparency.
"They just make blanket statements that they do background checks and have insurance, and don't say much else about it," Dyer said.
It may not be an easy process.
On Monday, Seattle reached a tentative agreement that allows UberX and similar ride-sharing companies to continue operating, but it took 55 days of negotiations. The companies agreed to provide additional insurance for drivers when they aren't carrying passengers — they currently don't — and to share data about the rides they provide. The traditional taxi industry was part of the talks and came away with a few sweeteners, as well.
"We're really confident this is going to be a great Uber market," Guernier said. "It's one of our fastest-growing ever."
©2014 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)
