Mayor Kirk Caldwell allowed a bill placing regulations on Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing companies to become law without his signature Wednesday, citing logistical problems that he maintains could put the public’s safety in jeopardy.

In a letter to the City Council that he also released to the media, Caldwell said he supports the Council’s intent to establish regulations for taxicab and ride-hailing companies, also known as transportation network companies, so there is a “level playing field” of competition.

The Council passed Bill 36 by an 8-1 vote on Aug. 3. If Caldwell had chosen to veto the bill, six votes would have been required to override the action and make the measure a law.

Cab companies and their drivers have complained that ride-hailing companies provide the same service they do but do not need to follow a long-established set of rules and regulations.

Uber of Hawaii had threatened to leave Oahu if the bill was passed. Its officials insisted its drivers aren’t required to follow the same types of rules in other jurisdictions.

Caldwell said the Jan. 15 starting date for the new law “does not give the Department of Customer Services adequate time to draft well thought out administrative rules,” which will include a state-mandated public hearing process. Without administrative rules in place, taxi drivers with expired or expiring certificates cannot renew their certificates, the letter said.

“It is not possible to complete the rules in this time frame, even if there are no challenges to the proposed rules,” the letter said. That would leave taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers essentially in noncompliance with the law, and the regulations on their drivers and the companies would be unenforceable, Caldwell said. The city will have no authority to suspend or revoke taxicab certificates if a taxicab driver were to commit any offenses, Caldwell wrote. “This is a serious concern that impacts the public’s safety and welfare.”

Caldwell said he’s also troubled by the inequity caused by the new law, which requires drivers to pass a national background check going back seven years when current cab drivers need to undergo background checks going back only two years.

The mayor said he wants his administration to work with Council members to create a new bill that would amend Bill 36, and then draft administrative rules.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, the bill’s author, said she’s puzzled that the concerns are coming up after the Council passed the bill. “We’ve been working for months on this bill, numerous hearings, numerous meetings with the taxicab drivers, the taxicab companies, the TNC companies and the department,” she said. “A lot of the administration’s concerns could have been brought up a lot earlier. I’m glad that they finally came up with these concerns so that we have time to fix it.”

Council Chairman Ernie Martin said he appreciates Caldwell’s concerns and maintains “the Council would likely consider any reasonable proposal from the administration.”

But like Kobayashi, Martin wondered why the administration did not ask for the changes before the bill was passed.

Under the bill, both taxi and ride-hailing drivers will have to pay a fee to obtain a city-issued certificate.

Drivers have to submit to a third-party, nationwide criminal background check going back seven years, and then repeat the same process every two years.

Operators have to have a Hawaii driver’s license and the drivers from ride-hailing services need to follow new identification procedures.

Uber spokeswoman Taylor Patterson said Caldwell’s decision “reinforces Uber’s position that Bill 36 still requires additional work.” The company looks forward to continuing thoughtful discussions, Patterson said.

EcoCab General Manager David Jung said he supported the bill despite its flaws.

“It’s better than nothing,” he said. “For more than two years, Uber and Lyft have essentially been allowed to operate without any regulations.”

It should not be difficult for the city, working with the interested parties, to come up with formalized rules by Jan. 15, which is five months away, Jung said.

  Bill 36 Letter to Council