DAKOTA COUNTY, Minn. — Some local agencies are scrambling Friday to try and figure out how to keep providing transportation to the area's most vulnerable populations after Uber and Lyft announced they're leaving Minneapolis on May 1st due to a new ordinance.
The move comes after the city council voted to give drivers a boost in pay after they argued the companies keep cutting their wages.
Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed it, but then on Thursday, a majority of the council members overrode his veto.
In a statement, council member Jamal Osman and co-author of the policy wrote, "The Minneapolis City Council will not allow the East African community, or any community, to be exploited for cheap labor. The Council chooses workers over corporate greed."
Uber and Lyft say fewer riders will now be able to afford the service, making operations unsustainable. Josh Gold, the senior director of public affairs at Uber says Minneapolis will be the only metro area in the United States without Uber. Gold wrote further in a statement, “We are disappointed the Council chose to ignore the data and kick Uber out of the Twin Cities, putting 10,000 people out of work and leaving many stranded. But we know that by working together with all stakeholders - drivers, riders and state leaders - we can achieve comprehensive statewide legislation that guarantees drivers a fair minimum wage, protects their independence and keeps rideshare affordable.”
Lyft says the new ordinance is deeply flawed and the rates are set higher than what a state transportation study found. The company reportedly offered the council three other pay rates. The policy communications manager, CJ Macklin, wrote, "We support a minimum earning standard for drivers, but it should be done in an honest way that keeps the service affordable for riders. This ordinance makes our operations unsustainable, and as a result, we are shutting down operations in Minneapolis when the law takes effect on May 1. We will continue to advocate for a statewide solution in Minnesota that balances the needs of riders and drivers and hope to return to Minneapolis as soon as possible."
Many organizations in Minnesota provide transportation to people with physical and cognitive barriers who say this move will have a traumatic effect.
For example, four years ago, Dakota County partnered with Lyft to provide discounted rides to about 4,000 people a year. That includes Liz Workman's daughter, Tori, who gets a $1,000 stipend every month for rides to her job at a local grocery store. The money is funded by taxpayers.
"They have to fix this," said Workman about the city council. "If they’re smart, they’ll get back into it and get some consensus on what’s the right thing to do."
Connect Ability of MN is a non-profit that partnered with Lyft four years ago. It says 3,000 people use the ride-share company and they're busy letting all those clients now know what might happen next.
"They're literally going to have to quit their jobs because they will have no transportation to get to them," said Connect Ability of MN Executive Director Sheri Wegner. "We’re going to create isolation and we’re going to create problems with increased demand on social services and case managers in the state of Minnesota who are going to be under tremendous pressure."
She says that can lead to even further limited access to other things like stable housing, food and appointments. Wegner did commend the city council for approving a livable wage for drivers, but questions at what cost.
"They stuck to their guns on their highest price and now everybody else has to pay the price for that," said Wegner. "That's very unfortunate."
Wegner says her clients will have to rely more on cab companies and metro transit. And even if her clients can use rideshare, it could mean more transfers and a higher cost to skirt around the city Uber and Lyft will no longer serve.
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