Uber Is Staying In Houston, For Now

HOUSTON, TX — Never let it be said that Uber is a reserved and calm company. It has been involved in numerous disagreements with cities across the nation — including Houston — over regulations such as fingerprinting of and background checks on its drivers, and even pulled out of Austin. What's more, the company is embroiled in a sexual harassment controversy.

Despite rumors to the contrary, however, Houston and Uber seem to be going through a stable phase, even with the city's continued insistence on the fingerprinting of drivers, with which Uber agreed to comply in a stopgap deal designed to keep the service in Houston for the Super Bowl. An unnamed spokesperson for the company told KHOU this week that it has no plans to leave the city. It seems that the Super Bowl deal is intact.

“We were proud to work with the mayor and the city council to reach a compromise that allowed us to continue operating through this important week. We want to be a partner to the city for these major events,” Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's general manager for Texas, told The Seattle Times earlier this month.

The company began operating in Houston in 2014, and its relationship with the city has had its share of discord. Uber had maintained that certain regulations mandated by city government — including background checks and fingerprinting — were onerous and prevented drivers from working, and threatened to leave the area before the Super Bowl. The deal reached with Houston did away with drug tests and physicals and lowered licensing costs, but retained a fingerprint check.

According to Lara Cottingham, a deputy assistant with the city's Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department, the city continues to demand the fingerprint background checks, insisting that public safety is best insured by doing so.

Uber is complying with the regulations, and your ride is intact for now. Stay tuned, however, because Uber is a dynamic company, and the wheels continue to turn.

— Image courtesy Uber