A trio of Minneapolis City Council members are out with their proposal to push the implementation date of a controversial rideshare ordinance from May to June as the nation's two biggest rideshare companies threaten to leave the city entirely.
Uber and Lyft have repeatedly stated they will cease operations in Minneapolis as of May 1 if the ordinance approved by the Minneapolis City Council does in fact move forward.
Back in mid-March, council members overturned Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of the ordinance that raises pay and provides more protection to rideshare drivers. The ordinance boosts driver pay to 51 cents per minute and $1.40 a mile, with a minimum of $5 for each fare.
It also requires 80 percent of any fee for canceled rides be paid to drivers and exempts tips from minimum pay.
In a press release issued Wednesday morning by Council President Elliott Payne, Council Member Katie Cashman, and Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, the three councilmembers concluded an extension would give more time to the legislative process as state lawmakers consider their own proposals based on a study released by the Minnesota Department of Labor.
The extension also looks to support "emerging rideshare companies" that plan to fill the void left by Uber and Lyft's departure from the city.
“Uber and Lyft drivers are being paid a subminimum wage and that is fundamentally wrong and goes against our shared values. We passed this ordinance because the current rideshare system is broken, and we were shocked to see the way it is leading to exploitative labor practices. Inaction was not and is not a choice. This ordinance is one step forward in correcting this broken system," the release said.
Mayor Frey, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and a number of other officials have criticized the council's ordinance which was passed just before results from the state's rideshare study were made public.
Many have raised concerns about how Uber and Lyft's departure would impact businesses, individuals with disabilities, and the areas senior population.
"We want to make sure that nobody in Minneapolis is stranded," Cashman told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar. "We also want to be sure that our largely immigrant workforce, 61% of drivers are foreign born, that they can work and live in dignity. That they have a minimum wage."
Many outside of the council have said they'll support a policy requiring .89 cents per mile and about .49 center per minute, as laid out in the Department of Labor's report.
The Minneapolis City Council's expected to take up the timeline extension during on Thursday.
"My thinking is our economy needs to be more resilient so we're not dependent on just two companies," added Cashman. "There's a lot of agreement out there that having more competition in the market, having emerging rideshare companies actually be viable in this market, will be good in the long term."