Uber and Lyft drivers in Portland are on track to get a new support hub after City Council voted this week to create a Drivers' Resource Center and broaden the city's per-ride fees so they cover more trips.
The emergency ordinance, approved Thursday, sets up the center inside the Portland Bureau of Transportation's private for-hire program and hands the City Administrator authority to write rules and run a competitive process to choose who will operate it. Backers say the move is meant to give ride-hail drivers help appealing unexplained deactivations and accessing translation, documentation and training support, while the companies are pressing the city to keep the center from slipping into a quasi-regulatory role.
According to Portland.gov, the ordinance amends City Code so Portland can collect permitted ride fees on trips that either begin or end within city limits, instead of only those that start in Portland. It also directs the City Administrator to formally establish the Drivers' Resource Center as a program inside PBOT and authorizes using a portion of ride-fee revenue to run it, with a competitive contract capped at $1.5 million per year. Council members attached an emergency clause, arguing that immediate implementation is needed while deactivation disputes continue to pile up.
Local reaction
Supporters on the council and in the labor world are pitching the change as basic infrastructure for a workforce that usually operates alone behind the wheel, while platform companies are signaling caution. As reported by OregonLive, co-sponsor Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said "the people who make that system work, the drivers, are increasingly left behind," and other councilors described the center as a necessary, if modest, step.
Drivers unions have hailed the move as overdue support for workers who can lose access to their income with little explanation. OregonLive reported that Lyft did not respond to requests for comment, while Uber raised concerns that parts of the ordinance could be read as giving the center adjudicatory power over company decisions.
What the center will do
Exhibit A to the ordinance spells out the core job description for the Drivers' Resource Center. It is tasked with helping drivers appeal eligible deactivations, providing culturally competent translation and documentation support, offering training, and acting as an informational hub rather than a regulator, according to the exhibit.
The updated code requires Transportation Network Companies to notify drivers in writing within 48 hours of a deactivation and to include contact information for the Drivers' Resource Center in that notice. The ordinance also explicitly states that the center "does not exercise regulatory or adjudicatory authority over TNCs." Advocates say that structure is intended to give drivers practical, on-the-ground assistance without interfering with company safety investigations.
How it's funded
The new center will be funded through the city's existing Transportation Network Company fees. As part of last year's budget debates, councilors signed off on raising the per-ride surcharge to roughly $2, and the latest code change broadens that fee so it applies to trips that either start or end in Portland.
That wider reach is designed to capture the impact that any covered trip has on city streets and infrastructure, regardless of where the ride begins, and to increase the revenue available for PBOT programs such as the Drivers' Resource Center. BikePortland documented the earlier decision to raise per-ride fees during the budget fight.
Companies and next steps
Industry representatives have warned city leaders not to create a setup that duplicates company investigations or functions as a parallel enforcement arm, a concern reported by OregonLive. In response, the council wrote amendments that keep responsibility for safety probes and deactivation decisions with the companies, while directing the City Administrator to adopt administrative rules and lead a procurement to select an independent operator for the center.
Drivers Union Oregon has said it will closely watch how the program rolls out to make sure it delivers real, culturally appropriate support for drivers, especially those facing language barriers and opaque suspensions. The union has been a vocal supporter of deactivation appeals and other protections for ride-hail workers.
The ordinance does not specify when the Drivers' Resource Center will open. Staffing levels, an office location and a launch date will be worked out through the rule-making and contracting process. Sponsors say the operating contract will need strong conflict-of-interest limits, data-protection rules and governance safeguards to keep the center independent from the platforms it is meant to monitor. City leaders are pitching the new office as a local-level fix while bigger fights over driver pay and platform accountability continue at the state and national levels.
