By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City will wait “a little bit longer” to see if New Jersey lawmakers enact comprehensive, statewide legislation to regulate ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft before possibly taking action on its own.
The beach town ticketed dozens of Uber drivers over the summer for operating illegally and has been eager to implement local ride-sharing regulations that would be ready for the 2017 summer tourism season.
However, City Council will back off for the time being to see if state regulations proposed by the New Jersey Senate and Assembly become law.
“I would suggest that Sea Isle – I know it’s been like this for a couple of years – hang in there a little bit longer,” City Solicitor Paul Baldini recommended to Council members during their meeting Tuesday.
Baldini noted that the Senate and Assembly are reconciling differences in their two bills before sending regulations to Gov. Chris Christie to sign into law. Comprehensive ride-sharing legislation, including requirements for Uber and Lyft drivers to have proper insurance and undergo criminal background checks, is “the statute we’ve all been waiting for,” he said.
