Portland Private-for-Hire

Transportation Board of Review

September 2013
Letter from Travis Kalanick | Co-Founder & CEO, Uber Technologies

When I co-founded Uber Technologies in 2009, for-hire transportation hadnt changed much in
decades. The only way to get a ride had been to call a cab company and hope one of very few
available cars would show up in the time promised. Fast forward four years: millions of citizens in
more than 40 cities around the world now access safe, convenient, and efficient transportation
with the touch of a button on their smartphone.
Uber Technologies does not own or operate vehicles, and we do not employ drivers, but our
software connects those millions of customers with tens of thousands of licensed transportation
providers and their drivers to increase their earning potential while making cities easier to get
around.
I write today to tell you how excited I am about the prospect of bringing Ubers services to
Portland but unfortunately, outdated laws make that impossible. Im asking for your help to
bring Uber to Portland, a forward-thinking, tech-savvy city. We want to work with you to
champion transportation innovation here.
Portions of Portland City Code Chapter 16.40 are meant to ensure that the public safety is
protected, the public need provided, and the public convenience promoted but, as written,
impose extreme limits on consumer choice and small business growth.
As currently written, Portland City Code:
Stifles alternatives that provide quick, comfortable transportation. Under the current
regulations, if you request a towncar now and it arrives in 10 minutes, you must wait an
additional 50 minutes before you are legally allowed to enter the vehicle. If a customer is
allowed in the car less than an hour after requesting the ride, the driver could face steep
fines and suspension or revocation of their permit. The purpose of this language is to
limit the quality of service for-hire sedans can provide.
Stipulates that the fee charged by a towncar must be substantially higher than the
prevailing taxi rate for the same trip. By setting prices artificially high, Portlanders ability
to get for-hire transportation in and around the city is severely constrained, and drivers
earning potential is artificially restricted. Why should only affluent people be able to get
a quality ride? Why cant a transportation provider offer quality service at the best
possible price?

Defines executive sedan as a large expensive passenger sedan or full-sized sports
utility vehicle. This excludes eco-friendly transportation options and limits consumers to
costly, fuel-inefficient transportation options. This runs contrary to Portlands long-time
goal of leading the nation in greenhouse gas reductions.
These outdated rules make citizens and drivers worse-off and prohibits sedan companies and
drivers from providing quality service at the best possible price. Were truly excited about the
future of transportation in Portland and we hope to work with you and your colleagues to ensure
that Uber can connect Rose City riders with high-quality transportation with the tap of an app.
What Is Uber?

Uber is a technology company, not a transportation company. Uber is revolutionizing the way
consumers have access to efficient, reliable, licensed and insured transportation. Like OpenTable
for restaurants or Expedia for airline tickets, Uber is a facilitator of a quality experience, but does
not provide actual transportation service.

Uber does not own or operate vehicles and does not employ drivers. Rather, the app provides
transportation companies with the ability to fill currently unutilized gaps in their bookings while
connecting customers to the highest quality transportation with the fastest response time.

For the cities it serves, Uber means faster economic development in both residential and
business districts, job creation for small businesses and higher incomes for drivers who are, in
turn, better able to support their families. This all occurs in a way that prioritizes quality,
convenience and safety for consumers and adds new transportation capacity, particularly
valuable for a vibrant city like Portland.

Where Is Uber?

North America
Atlanta Baltimore Boston
Charlotte Chicago Dallas
Denver Detroit Hamptons
Honolulu Indianapolis Los Angeles
Mexico City Minneapolis New York City
Orange County Philadelphia Phoenix
Providence Sacramento San Diego
San Francisco Seattle Toronto
Washington, D.C.

Europe, Middle East & Africa
Amsterdam Berlin Cape Town
Dubai Johannesburg London
Lyon Milan Munich
Paris Rome Stockholm
Zurich

Asia Pacific
Bangalore Melbourne Seoul
Shanghai Singapore Sydney
Taipei





How Does Uber Work?

Customers create a pre-arranged reservation through the free Uber smartphone app. The
nearest driver is alerted and given the customers info and pickup location through the free Uber
driver app. The Uber driver app uses GPS to collect data, which is then forwarded to Ubers
servers for accurate billing and receipt generation.



ONE TAP TO RIDE RELIABLE PICKUPS


CLEAR PRICING CASHLESS & CONVENIENT


FEEDBACK MATTERS SPLIT YOUR FARE


Who Are Ubers Partner Drivers?

Uber partners with drivers who care about their riders and have a passion for the trade. From
insurance to background checks, every driver meets all local regulations. Rider feedback helps us
work with drivers to constantly improve the Uber experience.





















Community Change.org Petition


Source: http://www.change.org/petitions/uber-bring-uber-to-portland-oregon


Letter from the Technology Association of Oregon

Letter from the Portland Business Alliance


Letter from Portland Startups & Entrepreneurs
Nayoi Chailie Bales
City of Poitlanu
1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room S4u
Poitlanu, 0R 972u4

Septembei 18, 2u1S


Beai Nayoi Bales,

As you aie well awaie, Poitlanu is one of the nation's hottest staitup hubs. Fiom softwaie anu social
meuia to uata analytics anu uigital stiategy, the Rose City's staitups aie uynamic anu thiiving - anu a
confluence of factois has maue Poitlanu a gieat place to giow. The city's collegial anu collaboiative
business enviionments along with the piesence anu inteiest of ventuie capital fiims, incubatois, anu
acceleiatois have helpeu local entiepieneuis uevelop stiong founuations foi young businesses.

0ui ieputation as the iueal place to launch a staitup is spieauing, anu that's gieat news foi a
community of entiepieneuis looking to make theii maik staiting iight heie in Poitlanu - anu it's gieat
news foi oui economy. That's why we'ie uisheaiteneu heai that a company like 0bei is lockeu out of
oui city because of outuateu iegulations that block the use of a new technology platfoim that is alieauy
in full swing in moie than 4u locations, incluuing othei competitive staitup cities like Seattle anu San
Fiancisco.

We uige you to upuate these outuateu, obstiuctionist iules that aie holuing Poitlanu back fiom
welcoming emeiging technologies that woulu give people auuitional options to get aiounu town. Not
only uo we love using 0bei in othei cities anu want to builu oui businesses in a place that offeis oui
venuois, customeis anu investois the best tianspoitation options, we also want to maintain anu giow
oui ieputation as a community that's ieauy foi what's next.

Like 0bei's founueis, we aie all innovatois. We aie constantly looking towaiu the hoiizon to see the
futuie anu it's cleai to us that the way we use foi-hiie tianspoitation seivices is changing. Technology
anu innovation is leauing the way. Let's continue to be a place that embiaces bettei, consumei-
fiienuly, new ways of uoing business.

Sinceiely,


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CE0, Bianulive





Press

The Oregonian, August 2013

Tech Biz vs. Portland's taxi regulations
By The Oregonian Editorial Board

"Nimble" is one word few would use to describe Portland's heavily regulated taxi industry.

It took the city more than a dozen years to increase the number of taxi permits despite a
shortage that had "a negative impact on response times and quality of service," according to a
2012 Revenue Bureau report. And when the city did deepen the pool of taxis last year, a number
of cab drivers sued, claiming the competition would affect their ability to make a living. The
cabbies lost, but even with 78 new permits Portland has more residents per taxi than the dozen
comparison cities included in last year's report. We wouldn't call Portland a "taxi desert," but
still ....

In such a constrained marketplace, it's not outlandish to believe there might be consumer
demand for services provided by companies like Uber, the controversial Bay Area developer of
software that allows people to hail for-hire transportation with their smartphones. Uber, in fact,
has set its sights on Portland, to which end it has asked city officials to loosen regulations that
protect the taxi industry from competition by other forms of for-hire transportation.

Uber, which specializes in stepping on regulators' toes, is known neither for its tact nor its
modesty. But is its request reasonable? That depends upon your point of view.

What the company would like, representatives explained to The Oregonian editorial board last
month, is to allow people to use its service to hail nearby town cars. Town cars, which provide
upscale transportation via reservation, are regulated more loosely than taxis and must abide by a
handful of restrictions preventing direct competition. As a result, town cars must charge more
than taxis for similar trips, and -- the biggest obstacle to services like Uber's -- an hour must
elapse between a call for service and a behind in a seat.

You can see the problem: Tech-savvy traveler summons town car; town car shows up one minute
later; tech-savvy traveler looks at car for 59 more minutes before climbing in. The traveler would
be better off summoning one of the city's relatively scarce taxis, which also can be done using a
smartphone, says Kathleen Butler, regulatory division manager within the Revenue Bureau.

City officials can offer reasonable arguments in support of Portland's regulatory system,
notwithstanding the sclerosis it has produced. Taxis enjoy a degree of protection from
competitive pressure, explains Butler, because the city considers them an extension of its public
transportation system and regulates them accordingly. For instance, taxi drivers can't turn down
fares. Taxis must have top lights and meters, and the companies that operate them must offer
dispatch services 24 hours a day. Such requirements are intended to protect consumers, as are
regulations that stifle competition. If you destabilize the taxi business, the argument goes, you
threaten a service upon which some people depend.

From this perspective, allowing town cars to eat into the taxi business would be unfair. But there
is another perspective, and it, too, is reasonable. While the city argues that consumer protection
is the primary motivation behind its regulatory scheme, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick claims in a
letter to Commissioner Steve Novick that the scheme is "designed to protect the taxi industry."
Those who hold this point of view could certainly find support for it in the city's own work, which
determined last year that "Portland lags far behind comparable cities in numbers of taxi vehicles
per population," with the predictable effect on service quality. The system, in other words,
appears to work better for holders of taxi permits than it does for consumers.

If consumers want something different -- an Uber-type smartphone service, for instance -- it's up
to them to demand it. As with any policy shift, this one would involve tradeoffs. What might be
good for some consumers and town car drivers would likely be less good for taxi companies and
some of their customers. There's something to be said, however, for pushing back against a
regulatory system that has produced a comparative taxi shortage while standing in the way of a
service many people may want.

The Oregonian, August 2013

The utility of Uber

Regarding the editorial "Tech biz vs. Portland's taxis" (Aug. 2): I use Uber's smartphone app in
Seattle. I live in Portland, but work four days a week, every week, in downtown Seattle.

I fly in, so I have no car. Taxi drivers don't see me waving, and they don't come when I call. With
Uber, it's not just town cars, either. I typically request a Prius. Uber displays the nearby cars on a
moving map on my smartphone, and when I request one, I get the ETA, a photo, the name of
the driver and the license plate number. When I arrive, I hop out, say "Thank you and goodbye,"
and Uber automatically charges my credit card. I get an email receipt in my inbox immediately.

My Seattle co-workers who commute to Portland always rent cars. The MAX doesn't go
everywhere, and hailing taxis is just time-consuming. Give Portland Uber.

CHRISTINE SWAN, Southwest Portland

The Oregonian, August 2013

Taxi alternative

Regarding the editorial "Tech biz vs. Portland's taxis" (Aug. 2): I used Uber in Los Angeles a
month and a half ago. It was the easiest, quickest and cleanest transportation ever. This was
before the LA taxi drivers pitched a fit, kicking their feet and screaming about unfair
competition. Competition it surely is, but it's not unfair. Taxis seem to have an unfair, verging on
antitrust, hold on the industry. Try Uber; you'll like it and you'll never take a taxi again.

SHARII E. REY, Beaverton