Uber, Lyft launch in Pullman after rocky start

Two weeks after the Pullman City Council amended its taxicab licensing code to fit background check requirements of “transportation network companies,” ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft officially launched Friday morning in Pullman.

Founded in 2009, Uber operates in more than 600 cities and 70 countries around the world, but it faced a roadblock in Pullman last year after the company objected to having its drivers be subject to and pay for locally required, fingerprint-based background checks the city began requiring of taxicab drivers in 2014.

Pullman police Chief Gary Jenkins said there were at least nine drivers working for Uber in Pullman before the company objected to the local requirement, prompting Uber to disable its drivers’ Uber apps.

“The Pullman Police Department welcomes Uber to the Pullman community,” Jenkins said in a news release issued Friday. “We look forward to the increased availability of safe and sober transportation for students, residents and visitors.”

Taxicab and TNC drivers must now undergo Social Security and name-based background checks through a third-party vendor, rather than fingerprint-based checks, to obtain a Class III license in Pullman.

The TNC requirements are mostly equal or superior to what the city previously had in place. Background checks will now be conducted every two years rather than five, and some disqualifying offenses can be up to seven years prior rather than five.

Though several people, including employees of local taxi companies, spoke out against the ordinance change earlier in the year, the police department’s analysis of fingerprint-based checks versus Social Security checks indicated fingerprint checks were often inaccurate and incomplete.

That, combined with certain TNC companies including security features other taxi services do not, such as providing customers with photos of their driver and license plate numbers and tracking dates, times and GPS routes of all rides, led staff to recommend accepting the TNC-based ordinance.

Lyft announced in August that it was making an effort to expand its service to rural areas of the country, including full coverage in 40 states.

“Expanding to cities like Pullman marks an exciting moment for Lyft in the greater Pacific Northwest. We are excited to bring safe and reliable transportation options to residents – especially to those who are students – and an opportunity for drivers to earn additional income,” Jamie Raczka, regional director at Lyft, said in a news release.

The Friday launch came just in time for the football game between Washington State University and the University of Southern California, which required WSU students, faculty and staff to remove their vehicles from several campus parking lots by 1 p.m. to make way for an anticipated sellout crowd that afternoon.