ATLANTA — Hundreds of Atlanta cab and limo drivers showed up Wednesday at Atlanta City Hall protesting Uber and Lyft drivers picking up passengers at the Atlanta airport.
The fleet of taxis, vans, and limos gathered at Turner Field and paraded their way to downtown Atlanta, where they shut down traffic as part of their event demanding new policies. Traffic on the streets around City Hall came to a halt as the vehicles drove around the building.
Police worked to smooth traffic as cab drivers emerged from their vehicles wearing T-shirts targeting Uber and Lyft. They also held signs reading "safety first."
The protesters are fighting for safeness and fairness of transportation drivers.
Right now, limo and cab drivers must be fingerprinted to pick up passengers at Hartsfield Jackson airport. Uber and Lyft conduct their own versions of driver safety checks, which do not include fingerprinting.
"Competition is good and fair. What we are asking for is for the government to be fair. For everybody to be fingerprinted that is carrying passengers," said cab driver Hesbon Alingo.
Alingo and other drivers gathered inside City Council chambers following the caravan around City Hall. Uber drivers also showed up to a work session to hear speakers from both sides on whether background checks with fingerprints need to be required.
We reached out to Lyft officials, who told us:
"Through open discussions at today's Work Session, we're hopeful that the City Council sees how imposing burdensome regulations on part-time drivers will restrict consumer choice. We urge them to listen to the many people in Atlanta who already rely on ridesharing so that ATL can join the nearly 50 other airports across the country who have welcomed Lyft's peer-to-peer model at the airport, while still maintaining public safety."
Uber told us that public comment was not allowed at the work session.
In statement Uber said:
"We appreciate the opportunity to share our views with the Transportation Committee in today's work session. We look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Reed and the Council to develop rules that would ensure continued access to flexible work opportunities and to safe, reliable, affordable rides to and from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport."
There will be a committee meeting to further discuss the proposed change in two weeks.
Cox Media Group
