Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Nevada lawmakers give green light to measure allowing Uber to operate

Safe ride sharing

AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File

This Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, photo taken in Newark, N.J., shows smartphones displaying Uber car availability in New York.

Nevada lawmakers have passed a hard-fought bill to regulate companies like Uber that allow people to hail a ride through a smartphone app.

The Senate and Assembly approved AB175 early this morning. The bill sets up regulations for "transportation network companies" and imposes a 3 percent tax on taxi and ride-hailing company rides.

It places the companies under the authority of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.

The measure faced a rocky ride through the state Legislature. A number of proposals that sought to allow the companies to operate in Nevada have faced stiff opposition from taxi lobbyists and Democrats concerned with safety regulations.

Uber briefly operated in Nevada last fall before a judge issued a restraining order against the company, saying it wasn't following rules for taxicabs.

Lawmakers expect the measure's 3 percent excise tax on ride-share, taxi and limousine companies to generate around $70 million per year. At least $19 million of that funding will to help pay for the UNLV medical school.

Ride-share companies are now a global phenomenon. Uber operates in hundreds of cities in the U.S and internationally. Its business model, replacing professional cab drivers with "contractors" who can hop in their private car and start driving after a background check and little else, was met with fierce opposition from the unionized cab industry.

There were union-backed rallies and intense lobbying efforts to kill the legislation. Lawmakers opposed one measure to legalize ride sharing companies last month. But the measure reappeared in AB175, a proposal to change taxi cab seat belt laws, and is now headed to Gov. Brian Sandoval's desk.

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