Anchorage Assemblyman Bill Evans is renewing a push to change city law to allow Uber and other ride-booking companies to pick up customers.

An ordinance filed Friday by Evans would set up local regulations for ride-booking companies, such as requirements for insurance, background checks, vehicle inspections and an annual licensing fee.

Even if his measure passes, it's unlikely that Uber or Lyft would open in Anchorage — not without a change in state law. But such a change is also circulating in Juneau.

Evans said his measure was prompted by Senate Bill 14, sponsored by Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage. The bill would change state law to allow ride-booking companies to treat drivers as independent contractors, which affects insurance requirements and is a critical part of the Uber and Lyft business model.

Previous efforts by the city to bring Uber into its transportation market stalled as the state of Alaska halted Uber from hiring drivers as independent contractors, Evans said in his ordinance.

With Costello's bill in the Legislature, "we want to be ready here as quickly as possible if that passes," he said. "I think there's a pent-up demand for those services here."

Uber started giving free rides in Anchorage in September 2014 and operated for about six months before negotiations with the city broke down. One sticking point was the city's insistence that Uber require drivers to obtain a chauffeur's license, required for commercial drivers.

That's not a requirement under Evans' measure, though Uber drivers would have to pass a criminal background check and a driving history check.

Other elements of Evans' measure include a $15,000 annual licensing fee for ride-booking companies. In a memo accompanying the ordinance, Evans said that's on par with what cab dispatch companies pay to the city and what the owners of cabs pay for taxi permits.

Evans' ordinance will be formally introduced at the Feb. 14 Assembly meeting and is likely to undergo review in Assembly committee meetings or work sessions.

A former member of the city Transportation Advisory Commission, Evans has made deregulation of the Anchorage taxi industry one of his main issues since he was elected to the Assembly in 2013.

Past efforts to open up the Anchorage transportation market to ride-booking companies has been met with fierce resistance by the local taxi industry, which until recently was tightly regulated. Last fall, Evans successfully pushed through local legislation opposed by vocal taxi owners that allows new taxi permits to be issued in Anchorage.