New forms of transportation are helpful to the public and popular with consumers. At the same time, implementing adequate safety standards, including fingerprint-based background checks, is essential for the Angelenos.New forms of transportation are helpful to the public and popular with consumers. At the same time, implementing adequate safety standards, including fingerprint-based background checks, is essential for the Angelenos.New forms of transportation are helpful to the public and popular with consumers. At the same time, implementing adequate safety standards, including fingerprint-based background checks, is essential for the Angelenos.That's why earlier this month, I joined Mayor Eric Garcetti and Council President Herb Wesson to submit a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to implement a pilot program requiring fingerprint background checks for Charter-party Carrier (TCP) and Transportation Network Company drivers (TNC), similar to what is done with taxicab drivers in LA. TCPs include limos, vans and shuttle services, like Super Shuttle, and TNCs include Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services.
For decades, Los Angeles has required taxi operators to work under a franchise agreement with the city, which requires Live Scan fingerprints to crosscheck potential drivers with the state's Department of Justice database and others. This provides an essential safeguard for riders by preventing people with significant or violent criminal histories from driving passengers in the City of Los Angeles.A fingerprinting pilot program makes sense in LA and will help the Public Utilities Commission gather valuable information as it contemplates implementing a more thorough background check program statewide. Keeping the riding public safe is something we should strive to do and requiring full and fair fingerprint background checks across the board will push us in that direction.Our letter proposes a three-pronged fingerprinting pilot program in Los Angeles: require Transportation Network Company drivers to be fingerprinted and background checked under the California DOJ screening process; require the companies to report on the number of drivers whose non-fingerprint background checks were found to be incomplete or inconsistent with the results of the fingerprint screening process; and require them to reveal how and why they deny drivers employment, what the appeals processes are and how fingerprinting requirements impact the number of drivers they accept or reject.Last summer, I led the City Council to consider requiring fingerprinting for Uber and Lyft background checks at LAX. It's important that we ensure that all transportation options throughout our city are safe for everyone.The information gathered through a fingerprinting background check process could help develop a statewide policy that would dampen any cause for concern over safety when using those services. Without gathering a significant pool of control and test data, the commission or the city cannot adequately respond to the rapidly changing landscape of this marketplace.
Read the full letter here: bit.ly/1RRihao