Uber has jumped ship from Galveston after city officials passed regulations treating the ridesharing service virtually the same as cab companies, charting a different course than Uber traveled in Houston and potentially inconveniencing cruise travelers.

"The point wasn't to keep Uber out," Trevor Fanning, Galveston's assistant city attorney, told the City Council, which approved the new rules Thursday. "It requires them to do the same thing that other vehicles for hire do."

The fingerprint and background check requirements that upset Uber don't go into effect until March 1. Even so, the company told drivers in Galveston it was shutting down, effective Monday.

"These new regulations will make it difficult for partners to earn extra money on a flexible schedule and create barriers to entry instead of improving access to reliable transportation options such as ridesharing," Uber's local general manager, Sarfraz Maredia, told drivers in an email.

The city's aim was to treat Uber - which connects drivers and riders by smartphone - as it does taxi firms. This is the approach cab companies in Texas and beyond have sought, calling it a "level playing field," but Uber considers cab rules anathema to its business model and interests.

Uber representatives said the Galveston regulations would have allowed the city to cap the number of vehicles permitted to drive for the company and to charge Uber $120 per vehicle, while empowering the city to inspect vehicles.

Fingerprint checks

The regulation Uber found most objectionable was a fingerprint-based background check. With the notable exception of Houston, Uber has fought fingerprint checks in every state and city, and only grudgingly accepted Houston's rules in August 2014.

Houston officials stand by their decision to require fingerprinting. They told Austin officials, when that city approved similar rules last month, that the company's claims that the rules hurt its business were not accurate. Demand for Uber is robust, even after it lost its status as the only app-based,vehicle-for-hire service competing with traditional cab companies in Houston.

The number of drivers in the Houston area, as well as the number of trips, is a trade secret. Though it is reported to city officials, the city is barred from releasing the information until a public records dispute is resolved.

Maredia said the company is growing in Texas and adjusting to the rules it is encountering.

"We have made a shift of our expansion strategy," he said. "We're focused on markets that are really acknowledging the benefits of ridesharing."

In addition to Galveston, Uber recently left Midland when that West Texas city approved regulations the company found onerous. It has made similar threats in Austin and has been active in attempts to encourage voters to overrule the council's approved regulations.

Other areas are gaining service, such as Beaumont, where officials passed regulations more in line with what Uber has sought in other markets. Service begins Thursday in Beaumont, with free rides through Sunday.

Long-term effects

Losing Uber as Galveston celebrates Mardi Gras is an inconvenience, but the loss of the service could have more serious effects in the long term, some predicted.

"How to get from Houston to the cruise port is by far the biggest question I get and a huge frustration for many people," said Tanner Callais, author of GalvestonCruiseTips.com, which advises people on cruise options and trends. "I think they look at a map and think Galveston and Houston are right next to each other. They don't realize the distance and cost."

Increasingly, Uber has been the go-to option for making trips to the terminals, Callais said.

"The cheapest shuttle is $60 round trip per person from Intercontinental to the cruise port," he said. "That's $240 for a family of four. Uber would provide the same service for about $200. A taxi would run about $325 round trip. It's hard not to see cruise passengers as the big losers to Uber leaving the island."

Thursday, Galveston City Manager Brian Maxwell told council members he was optimistic Galveston could tailor services and regulations that make sense to all parties.

"Eventually we'll get there," he said. "It is kind of like online shopping was 10 years ago. It takes everybody time to get on the same page."