Uber, the nation's largest ride-sharing service, will likely have to continue to offer Anchorage customers free transportation even after a Tuesday Anchorage Assembly meeting. That's when Assembly members will hear an ordinance, proposed by Assembly member Dick Traini, that would temporarily exempt Uber from the requirements of the municipality's taxi cab codes known as Title 11.
Traini said he would ask that his ordinance be heard after public testimony on Tuesday so a newly formed Assembly subcommittee could take up the issue.
"We only want to have to do this once," Traini said at a Friday work session dealing with Uber's Anchorage activities.
The Municipality of Anchorage has ruled that Uber must comply with its Title 11 codes, an opinion backed up by a recent ruling from Alaska Superior Court Judge Michael Corey. Corey has allowed Uber to operate in Anchorage as long as it does not charge riders. Uber is currently paying its Anchorage drivers' fares itself as part of a promotional offer.
The Anchorage Taxicab Permit Owners Association, a group of Anchorage cab companies, has publicly objected to Uber's insistence that it is allowed to operate outside of the normal taxi rules.