During a Feb. 2 City Council work session, Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall verified signatures on a petition protesting City Council's new regulations for ride-hailing companies.

The regulations, which were passed in December, included a requirement for fingerprint-based background checks but did not define an enforcement mechanism. Following the approval of the new requirements, some representatives and supporters from ride-hailing companies—such as Uber and Lyft—protested the change. A coalition called Ridesharing Works for Austin circulated a petition that was reportedly signed by more than 65,000 Austinites, who called on City Council to adopt "common-sense ride-sharing rules” or put the issue up for a public vote.

When the petition was filed Jan. 19, Goodall said it comprised 26,320 signatures. The number of signatures required for a valid petition was 19,765—or 5 percent of qualified voters in the city.

Goodall said the petition evaluation process required about 400 hours of city staff time.

"It was one of the largest petitions we had received in quite a while," she said.

In validating the petition, city staff enlisted the help of The University of Texas Professor Thomas Sager who helped analyze the data based on a random sampling of 6,580 signatures—or 25 percent of total signatures.

According to the city charter, council has 10 days to either adopt the petition language or put the issue to voters by calling for an election, which would take place May 7. Mayor Steve Adler said he expects City Council to make a decision regarding the petition during its Feb. 11 meeting.