Policy Resolution ETE-17-40

WHEREAS, Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) are committed to increasing communities’ access to transportation, thereby helping to expand communities’ access to employment opportunities, education, commerce, art, and culture, particularly in communities of color where traditional public transportation options are often lacking;

WHEREAS, TNCs offer new entrepreneurship opportunities for communities of color by offering licensed drivers in good-standing the opportunity to earn additional income on a flexible schedule;

WHEREAS, recent studies have proven that ridesharing offers public safety benefits by reducing the number of fatal vehicle crashes, the instances of drunk or impaired driving, and the number of arrests for assault and disorderly conduct;

WHEREAS, fingerprint-based criminal history databases, such as the one maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, often only indicate whether an individual has been arrested, not whether that individual was convicted of a crime;

WHEREAS, approximately one-third of all arrests do not result in a conviction;

WHEREAS, approximately one-third of all Americans are arrested by the age of twenty-three;

WHEREAS, according to a USA Today investigation conducted in 2014, in at least seventy police departments across the country, African-Americans are arrested at a rate that is ten times higher than other racial groups;

WHEREAS, fingerprint-based background checks, such as the one maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, disproportionately burden communities of color who wish to participate in the new economic opportunities offered by TNCs;

WHEREAS, TNCs have developed safe, innovative, quality-controlled networks to connect drivers and riders;

WHEREAS, the number of individuals seeking to participate in ridesharing as TNC drivers decreases significantly as barriers to entry are increased;

WHEREAS, examples of such barriers to entry for TNC drivers include requirements that TNC drivers pay business license fees, obtain medical examinations, complete geography tests or in-person driving courses, obtain commercial driver’s licenses, and submit to drug testing;

WHEREAS, according to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, overall 14 percent of whites, 15 percent of African-Americans, and 18 percent of Latinos have used TNC services;

WHEREAS, the 2016 Pew Research Center survey further found that Americans who live in majority-minority communities are more likely than those who reside in predominantly white communities to say that TNCs serve neighborhoods that taxis won’t visit;

WHEREAS, a Harvard study on upward mobility has found that the relationship between transportation, specifically commuting time, and social mobility is the single strongest determinant of a family’s chances of escaping poverty, stronger even than factors such as crime, elementary-school test scores, or the percentage of two-parent families in a community;

WHEREAS, that same Harvard study concluded that the longer the average commuting time the less likely a low-income family is to move out of poverty;

WHEREAS, a New York University Rudin Center for Transportation report found that, in New York City, residents of communities that had the lowest access to mass transit relied on personal vehicles to commute to work while residents of communities with insufficient access to mass transit experienced the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest incomes;

WHEREAS, a 2012 Brookings Institution study found that, in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, only 27 percent of jobs could be reached via mass transit within 90 minutes, more than three times the average commuting time in the United States;

WHEREAS, in a survey of over 800 people in Chicago about their experiences hailing taxis, researchers found that 48 percent of black respondents stated that, at some point in their lives, they had been ignored by a taxi driver, more than double the rate of whites who reported the same experience, and more than half of all black respondents stated that a taxi company had refused to send a car to their neighborhood when called; and

WHEREAS, NBCSL seeks to create an environment where TNC services will thrive and facilitate the development of a robust market—including supply and demand—for TNC services.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports legislation that supports the development of TNC services by providing a commonsense regulatory framework for TNCs;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NBCSL urges the adoption of TNC rules designed to provide a framework for safe transportation options, reduce discriminatory practices, and increase entrepreneurial activity;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all state legislators are urged to ensure that the economic, environmental, and social opportunities provided by TNC services continue to thrive across the country;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all state legislators are encouraged to ensure that these economic, environmental, and social opportunities are equally available to all people seeking to participate in ridesharing through the enactment of TNC regulations that ensure the safety of passengers and fair and equitable processes for those seeking to become TNC drivers; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• SPONSOR: Representative Harold M. Love, Jr. (TN)
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Energy, Transportation, and Environment Policy Committee
• Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Billy Mitchell (GA)
• Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
• Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President