Skip to content

Condition: Post with Page_List

Listen
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Minneapolis City Council overrides mayor's veto of rideshare ordinance

Both Uber and Lyft have said the move to raise wages this high will cause them to leave the city

Uber, Lyft, Rideshare, Minneapolis, City Council, Mayor Frey
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The rideshare ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council will stand, after councilmembers override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto Thursday afternoon.

The ordinance increases the pay for drivers in the city. Both Uber and Lyft have threatened to leave the Twin Cities market over this. Drivers in City Hall Thursday cheered the decision as the council made the announcement.


In a statement, Uber says they're 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,” Uber says in the statement.

"What I can't understand is voting no before, then having a study that shows that the policy you put out was wrong, and then changing your vote to yes," Mayor Jacob Frey said. "That doesn't make sense to me."

Frey, speaking to WCCO's Chad Hartman prior to the vote Thursday, says he believes that their threat to leave the city is real.

"I've said this before, I'm very much in support of increasing the wages for these drives. But it doesn't do any good to get a raise if you don't have a job at all," says the mayor.

Uber says when the ordinance takes effect on May 1, they will be forced to stop operating a transportation network in the entire metro area and that does include at MSP Airport.

If they both do stop service it would make Minneapolis-St. Paul the only major metro area in the country not to have rideshare services.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota House is currently working on a bill that would mandate minimum compensation rates for drivers on a per-mile and per-minute basis. It is currently unknown what exactly those rates should be.

The governor's task force report calculated that drivers would need to earn 89 cents per mile and 49 cents per minute to earn the Minneapolis minimum wage.

Both Uber and Lyft have said the move to raise wages this high will cause them to leave the city