Cabs In Newport News - NEW DELHI - The city is relaxing rules to keep taxi companies competitive

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to roll back regulations not directly related to safety -- such as setting taxi fares -- so taxi drivers can compete with ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

Cabs In Newport News

Cabs In Newport News

"We're avoiding anything that has anything to do with public safety," Newport News Police Lt. Matthew Jones said. The effort is to de-code everything that runs the business.

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In the past, Johnson says, cities have had conditions ranging from telling cab drivers how to run their businesses — to requiring cab drivers to wear collared shirts.

The change in city ordinances has been in the works for six years The council voted on the issue in April after discussing the proposed changes at two council meetings.

City staff and the city's Taxi Advisory Committee have decided to issue a different directive - requiring taxis from the same company to have the same color and font and withdrawing the age limit on taxis. Instead of requiring cabs to be less than 10 model years old, taxis would only have to undergo an annual safety inspection. Virginia Beach, Suffolk and Chesapeake also have no age limits

The updated ordinance, which will take effect on September 1, will also allow taxi drivers to set their own fares. Fares must be displayed on the taxi and submitted to the police department Most cities in the region set parameters for collection fees and kilometer rates

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"We're not going to tell Uber and Lyft how much to charge," Johnson said. "We didn't tell Uber and Lyft what kind of cars we could use... In Alan Archer's words, we didn't give them the flexibility to compete with other agencies."

City law requires taxi owners to obtain registration and certification to operate taxis in the city. The number of taxis in the city was previously limited to 240, but Tuesday night's change also removes the cap on the number of taxis in the city.

Along with the change, the council decided to get rid of the Taxi Advisory Board, made up of taxi industry, police, revenue commissioners and community representatives. The board was the only one of its kind in Hampton Roads and was established in 2008 to review Newport News tax regulations and advise the City Council.

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Hampton also updated its taxi ordinance in June Hampton decided to relax some of its restrictions, including offering approved fares to tow companies, raising the maximum age of cabs from 7 to 10 model years, and removing color scheme requirements.

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