Southampton Takes on Uber, Limos

Southampton Town is taking on Uber, but unlike the Town of East Hampton, which adopted regulations last summer that made it nearly impossible for drivers with the nationwide ride-sharing service to operate here, Southampton officials are taking a more conservative approach.

“All I’m doing is putting everybody on the same playing field,” Councilman Stan Glinka said by phone this week. His proposed legislation is still being drafted, though the intent is for a public hearing to be held sometime in March.

There is nothing currently on the books in Southampton Town to regulate Uber, livery cars, or limousines. The town code only addresses taxis that solicit fares, for example at train stations. It does not regulate prearranged trips, although many taxis operate that way on the South Fork.

Passengers summon Uber cars with a smartphone app. Under Mr. Glinka’s proposal, Uber drivers, as well as limousine and livery companies and their drivers, would have to comply with the same regulations that have governed taxis since 2005. The law requires the annual registration of cab companies, cab drivers, and the cabs themselves. Business owners pay $750 for a town license, $150 per car, and $100 per driver. A driver with one taxi would pay $1,000 for all three of the permitting fees.

Uber cars are owned and operated by independent drivers affiliated with, but not employed by the company, and so the individual driver would also be responsible for all three fees.

Taxi drivers also undergo background checks, conducted by the Southampton Town Police Department, which looks for a history of drunken driving, drug charges, and other offenses as cause for denial of licenses.

In 2015, there were 37 registered taxicab companies, 162 operators, and 167 vehicles licensed with the town, according to Sundy Schermeyer, the town clerk, whose office handles the paperwork and forwards information on to the licensing review board, which handles appeals.

The proposal received support from the town board at a work session earlier this month. “If I were a taxi company and I was paying $1,000 a year to do business, I’d be pissed off that all these guys were doing the same work as I am without having to pay that $1,000,” Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said.

“That’s why we’re here,” Mr. Glinka replied.

A year ago, some taxi company owners went to Mr. Glinka, the town board’s liaison to transportation, asking for help. He said they felt Uber drivers were “cutting us off at the pass.” He researched the issue, with the help of the town attorney’s office, and found there was a problem with “fly-by-night” drivers picking up fares.

“It seemed, from what I was being told not only by the local taxi companies but by P.D. and code enforcement, yes, it was out of control,” he said. Countless Uber drivers waiting for fares outside clubs and train stations were a regular sight all summer, and the drivers, out here only to work for the weekend, could be found sleeping in parking lots at shopping malls. “It was like an ant farm that somebody stepped on,” he said.

Still, Mr. Glinka was not willing to go down the same route taken by East Hampton Town, which requires companies to have a business office in East Hampton, and cabs, which are also licensed by the town, to be registered with a licensed company.

While he said he respected East Hampton’s choice, Mr. Glinka said he was concerned about opening Southampton up to possible litigation. Instead, he saw an opportunity, using the laws already on the books, to make a simple amendment. He thinks the proposal addresses the concerns of local cab companies and also helps to ensure the safety of residents and visitors using Uber, “to make sure there is nothing too precarious” about the drivers.

“We’re not making any harsh, quick moves,” he said. Uber drivers committed to working in the town will likely want to go through the licensing process, because they can quickly make the money back. Misdemeanor penalties for failing to register range from $500 for the first offense to a maximum of $1,500 for the third.

The legislation is still being worked on, with a few questions remaining, such as how best to modify the definition of a limousine. The councilman hopes to have the new rules in place ahead of Memorial Day. A formal introduction is expected at a town board meeting over the coming weeks.

“Once this law’s in place, the enforcement piece is critical,” Mr. Schneiderman said at the work session.

Ms. Schermeyer also raised a question about how the town will inform Uber drivers of the new law.

“Let’s see how much public attention this gets,” the supervisor said. “When they realize that we are now not only requiring this, but we are stepping up enforcement actions on unlicensed, I have a feeling they’ll find their way to your office to get that permit.”

Mr. Glinka is also hopeful that the incorporated villages within Southampton Town will want to institute similar regulation. “They are equally affected as the whole town is,” he said this week.

New York State is also looking to tackle the question of how to regulate Uber and other ride-sharing services. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last month that he intends to offer legislation.