Mayor Jenny Durkan wants to impose a 51-cent tax on Uber and Lyft rides in Seattle, in part to fund the streetcar. Let’s think bigger.
If we are going to take this step, let’s think systemically about Uber and Lyft’s role and how best to leverage it for everyone’s benefit.
First, let’s limit the number of these vehicles on the road, possibly by time of day. Their circling, often empty, vehicles are adding to the region’s maddening traffic congestion.
Second, let’s eliminate parking requirements for multifamily buildings in areas that are, or can be, well served by transit, and instead use real estate tax revenue, plus the proposed rideshare taxes, to increase transit, especially bus service. This advances the valuable goal of enabling residents of our urban villages to rely 100% on a combination of transit and rideshare, plus their feet and bicycles, to get around without a car.
This could become a huge and meaningful pillar of Seattle’s Green New Deal.
Deirdre Gabbay, Seattle