Mobility Committee, meet Uber petition

Keeping with tradition, today’s City Council Mobility Committee meeting will feature a discussion about Transportation Network Companies (e.g., Uber and Lyft). This week, the committee is likely to be met with a petition as well. An Austin Monitor reporter found a petition in her own inbox Tuesday, calling out Council Member Ann Kitchen (who chairs the Mobility Committee) by name. The call to action from Uber urged riders to #KEEPAUSTINUBER and read, in part, “For more than a year, you’ve relied on Uber to connect you to a safe ride at the touch of a button. You’re not alone. More than half a million people have opened the Uber app in Austin to catch or provide a ride. But today, the Uber you know and love is being threatened by a new plan pushed by Councilmember Ann Kitchen. Over the last year, ridesharing has driven Austin forward by increasing transportation choices, reducing drunk driving, and creating many economic opportunities for working families. Councilmember Kitchen’s plan would reverse this progress and destroy ridesharing as we know it. … Act now before it’s too late!”