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Uber and Lyft are 100% necessary in Austin. Here is the proof. 

• DWI collisions in Austin decreased by 18% after ridesharing was introduced

• Created jobs for 10,000+ Austinites

• Drunk driving deaths down by as much as 5% in cities that use ridesharing 

• Around 90 percent of ridesharing customers were picked up in less than 10 minutes. Two-thirds of them waited less than five minutes. Compare that to less than 40 percent were picked up within 10 minutes when using taxis. At night and on weekends, that number dropped closer to 30 percent when hailing and 16 percent when calling a dispatch to home.

Here’s what happened. Back in December, Austin’s city council passed an ordinance requiring fingerprinting for drivers, “trade dress” for rideshare vehicles, restrictions on where drivers can pick up and drop off passengers, and an onerous data reporting scheme. Among the many justifications offered by the city council, the taxi lobby, and their cheerleaders in the local press was the need to “create a level playing field.”

Uber and Lyft suspended operations effective Monday, making Austin the only major U.S. city without ridesharing.
In response, Uber and Lyft collected more than 65,000 signatures—more than three times the required amount—in support of a more reasonable ordinance to regulate ridesharing. It was placed on the ballot as Proposition 1 and a special election was held May 7. A paltry 17 percent of voters weighed in—in a city of more than 885,000—and the pro-regulation crowd won the day by a vote of 48,673 to 38,539, thanks in part to the confusing ballot language.

Sign this petition to cast your vote. Bring back Uber and Lyft to Austin. This isn't just about Austin. It's about setting a precedent to encourage progress through technology.

Come on people. The sharing economy works. Politics don't. Stop the attack on the sharing economy