Support streamlined regulation for transportation innovation in Missouri
We urge your support for S.B. 991 and H.B. 2330, which seek to provide a streamlined regulatory paradigm for transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft. The bills – sponsored by state Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis and state Rep. Kirk Mathews, R-Pacific – highlight the insufficiency of patchwork regulation of innovative transportation services.
The R Street Institute, a free-market think tank based in Washington, has evaluated transportation regulations in cities around the United States. Kansas City, Mo., received some of the lowest marks in the nation for its friendliness to TNCs. Under current law, Kansas City requires full commercial insurance coverage even in so-called “Period 1,” when a driver is neither matched to a passenger nor transporting one. It also levies significant fees on TNC operations, providing a substantial barrier to entry. The city scored only slightly better on taxi regulation, owing to its strict fleet cap of just 500 vehicles.
We support efforts to free the transportation marketplace for TNCs, taxis and other services to reflect technological innovation and clear consumer demand. While TNCs shouldn’t face more onerous and unnecessary regulations than those already weighing down the taxi and limo industries, legacy transportation models deserve some relief, as well. Competition improves offerings for consumers, rather than putting them at risk. Our nation has clearly decided that TNCs are and will remain a vital and economically helpful part of our transportation future.
Our task is to ensure they operate within the bounds of common-sense regulation and oversight, while enjoying the freedom to innovate and create economic opportunity. Both S.B. 991 and H.B. 2330 would move Missouri’s regulatory environment in that direction.
Rather than spending countless hours and dollars attempting to comport with the differing regulatory requirements imposed by Missouri cities, these measures will ensure that TNCs are able to focus on growing their operations, improving transportation and delivery options for consumers and saving lives by reducing drunken driving.
We support efforts to embrace innovations in the transportation marketplace while eliminating a patchwork of government bureaucracy.
