Happy August! I hope all of you are enjoying summer. I, for one, am the kind of guy that prefers snow over the tropical conditions we have been experiencing! Next week, I’m going to get back into how we transform economic development in Albany. This week, not removed from the theme of economic development, is about taxi service reform and modernization in New York’s Capital City.

Let’s address the elephant in the room, first — Uber. I think just about all of us have some kind of opinion about Uber. I have received messages in vehement support and opposition to Uber. Allowing Uber in Upstate New York rests with the New York State Legislature, not local governing bodies. Many of you are disappointed, to put it mildly, that ride-sharing authorization didn’t clear the Legislature this year.

I don’t know what the future of Uber is in Upstate. There are two things we can count on, taxis will be around and people are really, really unhappy with taxi service in Albany. No matter where you fall in the ride-sharing debate, there is virtual unanimous agreement that taxi service in Albany is terrible.

I agree.

That’s where local governing bodies, like the Common Council can step in and take action. At Monday’s meeting of the Council, I will introduce legislation that will go a long way in significantly improving taxi service. The legislation doesn’t contain extreme, outlandish ideas that no one has ever heard of before. They are relatively simple changes that will go a long way, including:

requiring the City create a citizen complaint form, easily allowing taxi users to file complaints on potential violations. These forms will be made available within taxis and online,

a hack license or medallion may be suspended for one year after the submission, hearing, and upholding of three citizen complaints;

upholding of three citizen complaints; requiring all taxis accept credit and debit cards as forms of payment;

specifies certain topics of training for potential taxi drivers; and

significantly eases an out-dated dress code requirement for taxi drivers

The legislation will be referred to the Council’s Law Committee for discussion and deliberation. I want to bring the legislative process directly in front of your computer and phone screens. I want all of you to be part of providing input on this legislation, whether it’s making suggestions of alternations, additions, or subtractions. There’s a lot of collective intelligence among city residents. We, as a local government, need to be tapping into that more and more. Why? I believe we get better public policy as a result of legislative crowdsourcing.

Check out the legislation by clicking HERE (you will be redirected to Microsoft OneDrive). Send me your input any way you choose, Facebook, Twitter, or via email at CouncilmanKrasher@gmail.com.

Let’s finally have taxi service in the City of Albany we can be proud of as residents, that we, and visitors, want to use, and help improve the overall business climate in Albany. I know with your help we can make it happen.

UPDATE: I should have included the link to the current City Code for everyone’s review. Many of the concerns expressed, certainly not all, are already addressed in the code. The problem is enforcement and teeth. That’s why I think the citizen complaint and three strike mechanisms will add significantly bite to the bark. Here’s the link, the section you are looking for is Chapter 353, “Vehicles for Hire.” http://ecode360.com/AL0934