Bill Text: TX SB361 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to transportation network companies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-27 - Co-author authorized [SB361 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SB361-Comm_Sub.html
By: Nichols, Campbell | S.B. No. 361 | |
(In the Senate - Filed December 19, 2016; February 1, 2017, | ||
read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce; | ||
March 22, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, | ||
Nays 1; March 22, 2017, sent to printer.) | ||
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relating to transportation network companies. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The heading to Subtitle F, Title 7, | ||
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
SUBTITLE F. COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES AND PERSONAL VEHICLES USED | ||
FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES | ||
SECTION 2. Subtitle F, Title 7, Transportation Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 649 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 649. TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES | ||
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS | ||
Sec. 649.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Digital network" means any online-enabled | ||
application, website, or system offered or used by a transportation | ||
network company that enables the prearrangement of rides between | ||
passengers and drivers. | ||
(2) "Digitally prearranged ride" means a ride in a | ||
personal vehicle between points chosen by the passenger that is | ||
prearranged through a digital network. | ||
(3) "Personal vehicle" means a vehicle that: | ||
(A) is owned, leased, or otherwise authorized for | ||
use by a driver; and | ||
(B) is not a taxicab, limousine, or other vehicle | ||
regulated by a municipality under Section 215.004, Local Government | ||
Code, or a joint airport board under Section 22.081, Transportation | ||
Code. | ||
(4) "Transportation network company" means a | ||
corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity | ||
that, for compensation, enables a passenger to prearrange with a | ||
driver, exclusively through the entity's digital network, a | ||
digitally prearranged ride. The term does not include an entity | ||
that provides: | ||
(A) in addition to digitally prearranged rides: | ||
(i) street-hail taxicab services; or | ||
(ii) limousine or other car services | ||
arranged by a method other than through a digital network; | ||
(B) shared expense carpool or vanpool | ||
arrangements; or | ||
(C) a type of ride service for which: | ||
(i) the fee received by the driver does not | ||
exceed the driver's costs of providing the ride; or | ||
(ii) the driver receives a fee that exceeds | ||
the driver's costs associated with providing the ride but makes not | ||
more than three round-trips per day between the driver's or | ||
passenger's place of employment and the driver's or passenger's | ||
home. | ||
Sec. 649.002. NATURE OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES, | ||
DRIVERS, AND VEHICLES. Transportation network companies and | ||
drivers logged in to the company's digital network are not common | ||
carriers, contract carriers, or motor carriers. | ||
Sec. 649.003. CONTROLLING AUTHORITY. (a) Notwithstanding | ||
any other provision of law, and except as provided by Subsection | ||
(b), the regulation of transportation network companies, drivers | ||
logged in to a digital network, and vehicles used to provide | ||
digitally prearranged rides: | ||
(1) is an exclusive power and function of this state; | ||
and | ||
(2) may not be regulated by a municipality, state | ||
agency, or other state or local entity, including by: | ||
(A) imposing a tax; | ||
(B) requiring a license; | ||
(C) setting rates; | ||
(D) imposing operational requirements; or | ||
(E) imposing other requirements. | ||
(b) An airport owner or operator may impose a reasonable fee | ||
on a transportation network company that provides digitally | ||
prearranged rides to or from the airport. | ||
Sec. 649.004. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO DRIVERS LOGGED IN TO | ||
DIGITAL NETWORK. A provision of this chapter that applies to a | ||
driver logged in to a digital network applies while the driver is | ||
logged in to receive requests for digitally prearranged rides and | ||
while the driver is logged in and providing a digitally prearranged | ||
ride. | ||
SUBCHAPTER B. OPERATION OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES | ||
Sec. 649.051. INSURANCE REQUIRED. The requirements of | ||
Chapter 1954, Insurance Code, apply to transportation network | ||
companies and drivers logged in to a digital network. | ||
Sec. 649.052. SHARED RIDES. A digitally prearranged ride | ||
may be wholly or partly shared by multiple passengers if the | ||
passengers consent to sharing the ride. | ||
Sec. 649.053. FARES. A transportation network company that | ||
charges a fare for a digitally prearranged ride shall: | ||
(1) disclose to passengers the fare calculation method | ||
on the digital network; and | ||
(2) before the passenger enters the vehicle for the | ||
ride, provide through the digital network to the passenger | ||
requesting the ride: | ||
(A) the applicable rates being charged; and | ||
(B) the option to receive an estimated fare. | ||
Sec. 649.054. DIGITAL NETWORK IDENTIFICATION OF DRIVERS AND | ||
VEHICLES TO PASSENGERS. A transportation network company shall, | ||
before a passenger enters a vehicle for a digitally prearranged | ||
ride, provide through the company's digital network to the | ||
passenger requesting the ride: | ||
(1) the driver's first name and picture; and | ||
(2) the make, model, and license plate number of the | ||
driver's vehicle. | ||
Sec. 649.055. PAYMENT; ELECTRONIC RECEIPT. (a) A driver | ||
providing a digitally prearranged ride shall accept payment for the | ||
ride only through the digital network. | ||
(b) Within a reasonable time following the completion of a | ||
digitally prearranged ride, the transportation network company | ||
whose digital network was used to prearrange the ride shall | ||
transmit, through electronic mail or text message, a receipt to the | ||
passenger who requested the ride that includes: | ||
(1) the origin and destination of the ride; | ||
(2) the total time and distance of the ride; and | ||
(3) an itemization of the total fare paid, if any. | ||
Sec. 649.056. INTOXICATING SUBSTANCE POLICY. (a) A | ||
transportation network company shall implement an intoxicating | ||
substance policy that prohibits a driver who is logged in to the | ||
company's digital network from any amount of intoxication. | ||
(b) A transportation network company shall include on its | ||
Internet website: | ||
(1) a notice concerning the company's intoxicating | ||
substance policy; and | ||
(2) the means to make a complaint about a suspected | ||
violation of the policy. | ||
(c) On receipt of a passenger complaint alleging a violation | ||
of the intoxicating substance policy, a transportation network | ||
company shall: | ||
(1) conduct an investigation into the reported | ||
incident; and | ||
(2) immediately suspend the driver's access to the | ||
company's digital network for the duration of the investigation. | ||
(d) A transportation network company shall maintain records | ||
relevant to a complaint for a period of at least two years after the | ||
date the complaint is received. | ||
Sec. 649.057. DRIVER REQUIREMENTS. (a) Before permitting | ||
an individual to log in as a driver on the company's digital | ||
network, a transportation network company must: | ||
(1) confirm that the individual: | ||
(A) is at least 19 years of age; | ||
(B) maintains a valid driver's license; and | ||
(C) possesses proof of registration and | ||
automobile financial responsibility for each motor vehicle to be | ||
used to provide digitally prearranged rides; | ||
(2) conduct, or cause to be conducted, a local, state, | ||
and national criminal background check for the individual that | ||
includes the use of: | ||
(A) a commercial multistate and | ||
multijurisdiction criminal records locator or other similar | ||
commercial nationwide database; and | ||
(B) the national sex offender registry database | ||
maintained by the United States Department of Justice or a | ||
successor agency; and | ||
(3) obtain and review the individual's driving record. | ||
(b) A transportation network company shall not permit an | ||
individual to log in as a driver on the company's digital network if | ||
the individual: | ||
(1) has been convicted in the three-year period | ||
preceding the issue date of the driving record obtained under | ||
Subsection (a)(3) of: | ||
(A) more than three offenses classified by the | ||
Department of Public Safety as moving violations; or | ||
(B) one or more of the following offenses: | ||
(i) fleeing or attempting to elude a police | ||
officer under Section 545.421; | ||
(ii) reckless driving under Section | ||
545.401; | ||
(iii) driving without a valid driver's | ||
license under Section 521.025; or | ||
(iv) driving with an invalid driver's | ||
license under Section 521.457; | ||
(2) has been convicted in the preceding seven-year | ||
period of any of the following: | ||
(A) driving while intoxicated under Section | ||
49.04 or 49.045, Penal Code; | ||
(B) use of a motor vehicle to commit a felony; | ||
(C) a crime involving felony property damage; | ||
(D) felony fraud; | ||
(E) felony theft; | ||
(F) an act of violence; or | ||
(G) an act of terrorism; or | ||
(3) is found to be in the national sex offender | ||
registry database maintained by the United States Department of | ||
Justice or a successor agency. | ||
Sec. 649.058. DIGITALLY PREARRANGED RIDES ONLY. A driver | ||
who is logged in to a digital network shall not solicit or provide a | ||
ride for compensation unless the passenger has been matched to the | ||
driver through the digital network. | ||
Sec. 649.059. PAYMENT ONLY THROUGH DIGITAL NETWORK. A | ||
driver may receive payment for a digitally prearranged ride only | ||
through the digital network and shall not solicit or accept cash | ||
payments from a passenger. | ||
Sec. 649.060. PASSENGER ACTING IN UNLAWFUL, DISORDERLY, OR | ||
ENDANGERING MANNER. A driver who has accepted a digitally | ||
prearranged ride may refuse to transport a passenger acting in an | ||
unlawful, disorderly, or endangering manner. | ||
Sec. 649.061. DIGITAL IDENTIFICATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT | ||
OFFICER. (a) In this section, "digital identification" means | ||
information stored on a digital network that may be accessed by a | ||
driver and that: | ||
(1) serves as proof of the identity of the driver; | ||
(2) serves as proof that the insurance coverage | ||
requirements of Chapter 1954, Insurance Code, are satisfied; | ||
(3) displays a photo of the driver; | ||
(4) displays an image of the driver's vehicle; and | ||
(5) identifies the make, model, and license plate | ||
number of the vehicle used by the driver. | ||
(b) On request of a law enforcement officer, a driver | ||
providing a digitally prearranged ride shall: | ||
(1) display the driver's digital identification; and | ||
(2) display electronic proof that the ride was matched | ||
through the digital network. | ||
(c) This section does not require a driver to relinquish | ||
possession of the electronic device containing the digital | ||
identification. | ||
Sec. 649.062. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS. (a) A transportation | ||
network company shall, for each motor vehicle used by a driver to | ||
provide digitally prearranged rides through the company's digital | ||
network: | ||
(1) require the vehicle to meet the requirements of | ||
Chapter 548; and | ||
(2) confirm that the vehicle has: | ||
(A) four doors; and | ||
(B) a maximum passenger capacity of not more than | ||
eight people, including the driver. | ||
(b) A vehicle used to provide digitally prearranged rides: | ||
(1) may be owned, leased, or rented by the driver; and | ||
(2) may not also be used to provide street-hail | ||
taxicab service, limousine service, or other similar for-hire | ||
service regulated by a municipality under Section 215.004, Local | ||
Government Code, or a joint airport board under Section 22.081, | ||
Transportation Code. | ||
Sec. 649.063. NONDISCRIMINATION; ACCESSIBILITY. (a) A | ||
transportation network company shall adopt a policy that prohibits | ||
a driver logged in to the company's digital network from: | ||
(1) discriminating on the basis of a passenger's or | ||
potential passenger's location or destination, race, color, | ||
national origin, religious belief or affiliation, sex, disability, | ||
or age; and | ||
(2) refusing to provide service to a potential | ||
passenger with a service animal unless the driver has a medically | ||
documented condition that prevents the driver from transporting | ||
animals. | ||
(b) A transportation network company shall notify each | ||
person authorized to log in as a driver on the company's digital | ||
network of the nondiscrimination policy. A driver logged in to the | ||
company's digital network shall comply with the nondiscrimination | ||
policy. | ||
(c) A transportation network company shall not impose an | ||
additional charge for transportation of individuals with physical | ||
disabilities because of those disabilities. | ||
(d) A transportation network company shall provide a | ||
passenger an opportunity to indicate whether the passenger requires | ||
a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. If a wheelchair-accessible | ||
vehicle cannot be provided, the company shall direct the requesting | ||
passenger to an alternate provider of wheelchair-accessible | ||
service, if available. | ||
Sec. 649.064. DRIVERS AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. A driver | ||
who is authorized to log in to a transportation network company's | ||
digital network is considered an independent contractor, and not an | ||
employee of the company, if: | ||
(1) the company does not: | ||
(A) prescribe the specific hours during which the | ||
driver is required to be logged in to the company's digital network; | ||
(B) impose restrictions on the driver's ability | ||
to use other transportation network companies' digital networks; | ||
(C) limit the territory within which the driver | ||
may provide digitally prearranged rides; or | ||
(D) restrict the driver from engaging in another | ||
occupation or business; and | ||
(2) the company and the driver agree in writing that | ||
the driver is an independent contractor. | ||
Sec. 649.065. FIRE EXTINGUISHER. Section 547.607 does not | ||
apply to a vehicle used to provide digitally prearranged rides. | ||
SUBCHAPTER C. RECORDS AND OTHER INFORMATION | ||
Sec. 649.101. RETENTION OF RECORDS. A transportation | ||
network company shall maintain: | ||
(1) records evidencing compliance with the | ||
requirements of this chapter for a period of two years; | ||
(2) individual ride records for at least one year | ||
after the date the ride was provided; and | ||
(3) driver records for at least one year after the date | ||
the driver ceases to be authorized to log in as a driver on the | ||
company's digital network. | ||
Sec. 649.102. COLLECTION, USE, OR DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS AND | ||
OTHER COMPANY INFORMATION. (a) Any records, data, or other | ||
information disclosed to a public entity in this state by a | ||
transportation network company, including names, addresses, and | ||
any other personally identifiable information of drivers, is not | ||
subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code. | ||
(b) A public entity may not disclose any records, data, or | ||
other information provided by a transportation network company | ||
under this chapter to a third party except in compliance with a | ||
court order or subpoena. If information provided under this | ||
chapter is sought through a court order or subpoena, the public | ||
entity shall promptly notify the transportation network company to | ||
afford the company the opportunity to take actions to prevent | ||
disclosure. | ||
(c) In collecting, using, or disclosing any records, data, | ||
or other information submitted by a transportation network company | ||
under this chapter, a public entity shall: | ||
(1) consider the potential risks to the privacy of the | ||
individuals whose information is being collected, used, or | ||
disclosed; | ||
(2) ensure that the information to be collected, used, | ||
or disclosed is necessary, relevant, and appropriate to the proper | ||
administration of this chapter; and | ||
(3) take all reasonable measures and make all | ||
reasonable efforts to protect, secure, and, where appropriate, | ||
encrypt or limit access to the information. | ||
(d) A transportation network company required to submit, | ||
disclose, or otherwise provide personally identifiable information | ||
of drivers to a public entity of this state is not liable in any | ||
civil or criminal action for any unauthorized disclosure, misuse, | ||
alteration, destruction, access or acquisition, or use of the | ||
information that occurs while the information is in the possession | ||
of any public entity of this state. | ||
Sec. 649.103. DISCLOSURE OF PASSENGER INFORMATION. (a) A | ||
transportation network company may disclose a passenger's personal | ||
identifying information to a third party only if: | ||
(1) the passenger consents; | ||
(2) the disclosure is required by a legal obligation; | ||
or | ||
(3) the disclosure is required to: | ||
(A) protect or defend the terms of use of the | ||
transportation network company service; or | ||
(B) investigate a violation of those terms. | ||
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a transportation | ||
network company may share a passenger's name with a driver | ||
accessing the company's digital network to facilitate: | ||
(1) identification of the passenger by the driver; or | ||
(2) communication between the passenger and the | ||
driver. | ||
SECTION 3. On the effective date of this Act, any | ||
municipality's or other local entity's ordinance or policy related | ||
to transportation network companies or drivers authorized to access | ||
transportation network companies' digital networks that | ||
contradicts or is otherwise inconsistent with this Act is void and | ||
has no effect. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | ||
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