The field of ride-hailing companies operating in Austin is set just in time for South by Southwest Conference & Festivals Friday. A new ride-hailing, or transportation network company, landscape has emerged after the failure of an Uber- and Lyft-backed ballot proposition to reverse the city's fingerprint-based background check mandate for drivers, among other local laws. Seven companies operate in the city and are compliant with its requirements for drivers:
All have achieved the 99 percent compliance rate needed to continue operating in the city of Austin as of Feb. 1, according to a March 8 city of Austin memo. Here are some takeaways from the update on how ride-hailing companies in Austin are complying with the ordinance.
Less than 3 percent of ride-hailing applicants are denied the ability to work locally based on disqualifying offenses found in their background check.
According to the memo, of the 274 applicants denied permits, 26 have had appeals reviewed by Rob Spillar, Austin Transportation Department director, with 15 granted permits upon review.
The number of ride-hailing trips provided in Austin increased by more than 30,000 from December to January.
Comparatively, about 450,000 trips were offered in November, when there were nine ride-hailing companies operating in Austin.
