From Theresa Bowman, Capitol Hill resident, business owner, and part-time Lyft driver

As a part time Lyft driver, I oppose the City Council’s proposed Fare Share legislation. This regressive legislation would increase the tax on Lyft and Uber rides by 200% to essentially pluga massive hole in the city’s budget, masked as helping drivers. After attending several hearings on the bill, it’s very evident that there is a huge gap in understanding from City Council and how Lyft and Uber operate.

Little, if any, of the money would actually make it into drivers’ pockets. In fact, the relatively small amount directed towards the industry at all will go towards yet another government funded study and to create more government bureaucracy. Instead, the money will be used towards things like paying for a vanity streetcar project for the wealthy that’s already astronomically over budget. Even worse, it would also ultimately reduce driver pay since we all know increasing taxes reduces demand for rides, and in the end, the best way to increase driver earnings is by increasing the number of rides we give.

It’s clear that the City Council does not have drivers’ best interests at heart, and it’s on us to speak out against this horrible legislation. We can’t let them fill their budget holes on the backs of riders and drivers.