Seven months ago Austin voters reinforced requirements to fingerprint drivers from ride-hailing companies, resulting in Uber and Lyft, which contend they already perform sufficient background checks, to pull out of Austin.
While the ride-hailing companies still operate directly outside city limits, a slew of new ride-hailing companies—such as Fasten, Fare and Ride Austin—that meet the fingerprinting requirements have launched in the city since Proposition 1 was rejected.
The survey, which was made public Oct. 26 and will be available until the end of December, is part of a larger study that is funded by the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency.
As of Tuesday, a little less than 400 responses have been collected, according to Chris Simek, the author of the study.
Simek said the number of responses is less than what the project team hoped to achieve by now—he said the ideal number of responses is around 1,000.
Once the survey is closed, the data will be analyzed by members of the project team of social scientists and engineers, he said.
Simek said he expects to have internal preliminary results by mid-January and expects to release study publishings to the public sometime shortly after.
"There's a little bit of a push to get some preliminary results just to see how things look," he said.
The survey asks responders to identify what ride-hailing apps they currently use, how often they use ride-hailing services, how inconvenienced they were by Uber and Lyft's departures and whether they agree or disagree that fingerprinting drivers will increase passengers' safety.
Simek said Uber and Lyft are not a part of the project team, and he did not know whether Uber and Lyft were aware of the survey's existence.
Statewide regulations possible
At the state level, several legislators have filed bills calling for statewide ride-hailing regulations.
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, on Nov. 14 filed SB 176 that calls for background checks but not fingerprinting.
"Trying to regulate these ridesharing services at the city level will always be challenging because people don't confine their mobility to just one city," Schwertner said in his announcement of the bill filing. "Transportation is, by its very nature, a regional concern and decisions made in one city have an undeniable impact on the surrounding communities."
State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, filed a similar bill, SB 113, that would prevent municipalities from imposing regulations on taxis and ride-hailing companies.
"The ride-for-hire industry keeps asking for the same thing—a fair and equal market—and I agree," he said. "But a level playing field need not mean building up regulations on innovative and popular services."
The 85th Texas legislative session begins Jan. 10.
Uber and Lyft respond
Trevor Theunissen, Uber's Texas Public Affairs Lead, told Community Impact Newspaper in November that Uber was continuing conversations and engagement at city hall "to see if there is a path forward."
He said the company was encouraged that Texas legislators were interested in statewide ride-hailing regulations.
“No matter where people live in the Lone Star State, they deserve the same economic opportunity and access to reliable transportation options that Uber provides," he said.
Lyft spokesperson Chelsea Clinton also said she had no update on whether the company was returning to Austin.
"We are eager to work alongside all stakeholders to implement reasonable rules that encourage economic opportunities, innovation and consumer choice," she said in an email.
Fingerprinting compliance
By Dec. 1, 85 percent of ride-hailing drivers in Austin were required to be compliant with the city law, meaning they have to pay $39.95 to background check provider Morphotrust to go through fingerprinting.
Marissa Monroy, public information and marketing manager for the city of Austin's transportation department, said there is a two-week grace period following the deadline. She said she expects to have the compliance numbers ready for the public by the new year.
By Feb. 1, 99 percent of drivers must meet those standards.
This story has been updated to include information from the city about fingerprint compliance.
