WASHINGTON, D.C.—Newly proposed legislation would protect ride-hailing app and taxi riders and others from bad actors, equalize the playing field for companies and operators, and give the District strong tools to investigate and enforce regulations against unlicensed and illegal operators.

Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau, D-Ward 1, introduced the legislation this week, following a report released by her Committee earlier this month, which found that the District’s current for-hire vehicle laws are vulnerable to exploitation by bad-faith actors and that they are not equipped to deal with an industry that has innovated and evolved rapidly over the past 15 years.

B26-0818, the For-Hire Passenger Service Reform Act of 2026, would ensure that all for-hire vehicle activity is covered by the law, even if some or all of a trip in the District is free of charge – an attempted loophole employed by ride-hailing company Empower. It also clarifies in law that companies are responsible for the safe operation of vehicles using its digital services – that is, they cannot shift that burden to drivers themselves.

The complete overhaul of the District’s for-hire vehicle regulations would also level the playing field in the industry by rightsizing the regulator burden and barriers to entry for operators, establish simpler and clearer definitions based on types of service, and ensure autonomous vehicles used for ride-hailing trips are covered by for-hire vehicle laws. The bill would ensure dignified and greater access to wheelchair accessible vehicles.

“There’s been a lot of attention paid to one company that’s operating as a ride-hailing company and is pretending that it’s something else,” Nadeau said. “This puts an end to that. But the legislation goes further, modernizing our regulations around an industry that is evolving all the time, and better preparing District government for the next innovation – whatever it will be.”

The report released earlier this month by the Committee on Public Works & Operations, chaired by Nadeau, details Empower’s years-long efforts to circumvent the District’s for-hire-vehicle laws, which govern taxicabs, limousines, and ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft. It also describes efforts by District government to require the company to register as a ride-hailing company and ensure that its drivers have appropriate insurance to protect their passengers and themselves, and the efforts of the D.C. Attorney General to bring the company into compliance.

“We’re modernizing and cleaning up an over-complicated law that’s been tweaked and contorted to address technologies and service models that were not anticipated when the original law was written,” Nadeau said. “This new law will work better for companies, operators, riders, and regulators, and puts tools in place to better handle future innovations.”

Nadeau also addressed recent communications by Empower that incorrectly informed drivers and customers this week that they can now operate again in the District, saying that temporary legislation expired.

“It was and is illegal to provide unlicensed ride-hailing services in the District, my emergency legislation removed any possible doubt of that, and that legislation is still in effect,” Nadeau said. “Either Empower didn’t do its homework or it is willfully misleading drivers and customers yet again.”

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REPORTERS NOTE
On legislation clarifying conditions for being subject to FHV regulations:

The Council approved emergency legislation on Nov. 4, 2025; passed subsequent temporary legislation on Dec. 2, 2025, that extended the clarifications in law until Sept. 25, 2026; passed another emergency bill on July 14, 2026, that extended the regulations until Nov. 8, 2026; and passed additional temporary legislation on Sept. 22, 2026, that would extend the rules another 225 days, allowing the Council time to consider and approve the permanent regulations proposed in this legislation. (Councilmember will submit one more emergency bill before Nov. 8, as the Sept. 22 temporary legislation will not yet have passed the Congressional review period.)

Read the bill text on LIMS

B26-0818 – For-Hire Passenger Service Reform Act of 2026

BILL SUMMARY

The For-Hire Passenger Service Reform Act of 2026 is a comprehensive package that modernizes the District’s laws governing for-hire vehicles to protect consumers and the public, streamline regulations, and ensure that the District has strong tools to investigate and enforce unlicensed and illegal operators. This text was developed based on lessons learned from the Committee’s oversight roundtable and report on “The State of the For-Hire Vehicle Industry” held on May 26, and June 3, 2026, and after an extensive review of comparable for-hire statutes and regulations in more than 20 other jurisdictions, including peer cities and states as well as international best practices. Read the Committee’s preliminary report based on that roundtable and issued in September 2026.

Simplifies definitions

• Simplifies over a dozen intertwined definitions and service types into a single definition of “for-hire passenger service” with two classifications: “pre-arranged” and “street hail.”
  • “Pre-arranged” = what are currently considered ride-hailing apps, limousines, and trips dispatched by phone or radio
  • “Street hail” = “traditional” taxi service, including taxi stands

Applies the same standards to the entire market

• Insurance, vehicle inspections, licensing and registration, background checks – identical types of service would be subject to the same set of rules.
• Street hail trips would have some higher standards for driver training and regulated fares, since passengers don’t have as much up-front information before they get into a vehicle.

Strengthens enforcement tools

If it looks like a ride-hailing company and acts like a ride-hailing company, it’s a ride-hailing company.

• Ensures clarity on who is subject to the law and holds unlicensed companies and operators accountable.
• Strengthens DFHV’s cease-and-desist authority.
• Unlicensed activity is categorically treated as a public harm.
• All vehicles would be given the same for-hire emblem, making street enforcement easier.

Lowering barriers to entry for taxi drivers

• Loosens the color scheme requirement currently imposed on taxis and requires DFHV to consider costs imposed on operators when creating aesthetic vehicle requirements.
• Eliminates outdated provisions (antiquated training requirements, e.g.) that make it challenging to apply to be a taxi driver right now.

Significantly improves accessible (WAV) service

• Establishes a new “level-of-service” standard to hold companies more accountable for providing equal service to passengers requesting wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs).
• Creates a new “Accessible Passenger Service Fund” to support access to WAVs (subsidies, grants to operators, vehicle purchase, etc.). Funded by a 10-cent surcharge on non-WAV trips. The fund is modeled after successful programs in other cities, such as Chicago and Seattle.

Meaningfully addresses underserved neighborhoods

• DFHV currently has authority to designate areas of the District as “underserved” but that currently has no teeth.
• The bill would provide tools to determine whether certain neighborhoods are receiving sub-standard, unequal, or discriminatory for-hire service.

Upfront pricing for everything

• Even a passenger hailing a ride on the street could request an upfront price based on destination, similar to one you would get if you booked through an app. No need to rely solely on the meter.

Bans “surveillance pricing”

• In response to reports and research showing customers getting different fare estimates, even when requesting the same trip at the same time.

Greater fare transparency

• In line with Councilmember Nadeau’s recent updates to the consumer protection law, the bill would require a clear breakdown of the fare being charged and create more transparency around “surge pricing.”

More predictable driver pay

• Drivers would be given more information about their estimated pay for a trip, receive an equal share of any surge pricing, and be guaranteed 100% of tips.

Creates a special license category for “Emerging Markets”.

• Two-year probationary license meant for any new for-hire business model that doesn’t cleanly fit within the existing law, as determined by DFHV.
• Intended to prepare for the next “disruption” – something we are not able to foresee in a rapidly-evolving industry; not intended for companies claiming innovation, while operating more-or-less like existing ride-hailing services.
  • Allows DFHV to remain nimble and respond more quickly to ever-changing industry practices.

Allows DFHV to set “geofencing” rules

• DFHV would be authorized to require pick-ups or drop-offs at specific curb locations a reasonable distance from a destination.
• This is already a capability of ride-hailing apps, and it is done voluntarily for big events like baseball games and concerts.

Replaces various for-hire taxes and surcharges with a single “VMT charge”

• Currently, “digital dispatch” companies pay 6% of gross receipts, and taxi trips have a 50-cent passenger surcharge. But lines have been blurred between which tax applies to which types of trips, especially with some operators who do both pre-arranged and street-hail. There is also a variable surcharge on digital dispatch to incentivize low-emissions vehicles and electric vehicles.
• These would be replaced with a simplified “vehicle-miles traveled charge” (VMT) for all for-hire activity. This is not intended to generate new revenue – the VMT charge rate would be set at an amount equal to the revenue currently collected by the taxes it replaces
• Works in tandem with a similar tax on autonomous vehicle fleets proposed in B26-0684, the “Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026”.