April 20, 2015

The Honorable Charlie Hales, Mayor

1221 SW Fourth Ave
Portland, OR 97204
Dear Mayor Hales and Members of the City Council:
Portland is an innovative, progressive and forward-thinking city. An independent,
entrepreneurial spirit infuses our economy and a sense of civic engagement energizes our
community. We write you today to ask that the city finish the great work that it has
started and allow Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to operate in our great city.
According to research by CTIA-The Wireless Association, Oregon has the fourth highest
proportion of app development jobs in the entire country - primarily driven by
Portland. Yet, we are the last major city in the West where app-based rideshare platforms
like Uber and Lyft are unable to operate. As a city that prides itself on progressive policy
and innovation, this is disconcerting.
Its time to bring Portlands for-hire transportation code into the 21st century by creating
the framework for TNCs to operate.
Adding another option to our existing transportation infrastructure is a good thing: It
means our customers have another means to access our businesses besides driving
themselves, paying high rates to park, hailing cabs, and walking long distances to their
destinations. Our business colleagues - as well as many of us when we travel to other
large cities - enjoy riding with Uber, Lyft, and others around the world.
Portlands embrace of innovation has allowed us to recruit some of the best and brightest
minds from around the world. As Portlands tech-hub reputation continues to grow, the
investments in our city are spurring economic activity across all other sectors - allowing
restaurants, shops, and many other businesses to grow.
TNCs are the safest for-hire model around. They promote safety by ingraining real-time
accountability into their technology like never before. Their successful track record in
dozens of other cities is evidence of that, which is why theyve earned such a loyal
following. Uber conducts extensive criminal background checks on each new driver
before theyre allowed on the system, and every customer is given the opportunity to
provide immediate, anonymous feedback on the quality of their driver. This goes beyond
what Portland requires. Additionally, Uber has volunteered to offer wheelchair accessible
services through their platform-- partnering with First Transit to start-- so that all
Portlanders have access to rides.
We urge city leaders to open up the city to continued growth and innovation. Move our
city forward and adopt the framework that brings these opportunities to riders here in
Portland.

Sincerely,
Dylan Boyd
Director, R/GA Ventures
Eric Rosenfeld
Co-Founder, Manager, Oregon Angel
Fund
Mike Golub
President of Business Operations at
Portland Timbers
Joe Stump
Angel Investor/Advisor
Angela Jackson
Managing Director, Portland Seed Fund

Skip Newberry
President, Technology Association of
Oregon
Kevin Hurst
VP/GM eBay Portland Office
Nitin Khanna
CEO, MergerTech
Lucas Carlson
Chief Innovation Officer, CenturyLink
Colin Nederkoorn
CEO, Customer.io

Joshua Reich
CEO, Simple

Lauren Goldstein
VP, Strategy & Partnerships at Babcock
& Jenkins

Ethan Smith-Gillespie
Founder & President, The Program

Ryan Fink
CEO, Founder at ONtheGO Platforms

Tom O'Keefe
President / CEO, AkLex

Genevieve Morganstern
Co-Founder and CEO, Sadie

Mat Ellis
Co-Founder & CEO, Cloudability

Kent Lewis
President and Founder, Anvil Media,
Inc.

J.R. Storment
Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer,
Cloudability
Tore C. Steen
CEO, Co-Founder, CrowdStreet

Joshua Blank
Co-Founder & Senior Vice President of
Operations
Ryan Hildebrand
Co-founder of Seed.co

Wade T. Brooks
Executive Director, Willamette
University Angel Investment Fund

Gino Zahnd
CEO & Co-founder at Cozy

Chris Teso
Founder & CEO, Chirpify

Josh Friedman
CEO, Incredible Corporation

Luke Kanies
Founder & CEO, Puppet Labs, Inc.

Liz Valentine
CEO, Swift, A POSSIBLE AGENCY

Jay Berberick
Group Director, R/GA PDX

Sce Y. Pike
CEO, President at IOTAS, Inc.
Chief Experience Officer, Citizen Inc.

Vidya Spandana
Founder, Neppalli Strategy

Toby Barnes
Product Strategy Director, AKQA PDX

Rebecca M. Armstrong
Principal and Managing Director at
NORTH, Inc.

Diane Fraiman
Partner, Voyagercapital.com

Jim Fletcher
Owner at opus creative

Kyle Banuelos
Founder, Stublisher

Kathrine Giacchino
Director, Rubicon International

George Huff
CEO & Co-Founder, Opal Labs Inc

Jayson Bosteder
Partner at Juliet Zulu

Steve Giannini
President & Co-founder at Opal Labs Inc

Brandon Schoessler
Founder / CEO
Sportland Tea Company

James McDermott
CEO, Lytics

Jerry Ketel
Creative Director, Leopold Ketel &
Partners
Dan Walsh
Managing Director, Roundhouse
Kelly Dachtler
President & Co-founder, TheClymb.com
Paul Wille
President, Chief Performance Officer
Swift, A POSSIBLE AGENCY

Brent Hieggelke
Chief Mobile Evangelist, Urban Airship
Lynn Le
Founder, Society Nine
Marcelino Alvarez
CEO, Uncorked Studios
Erik Onnen
Co-founder, CTO at RipFog, Inc.
Tom Turnbull
Co-Founder, OpenSesame
Justin Garrity
President Postano / TigerLogic

Cc:

Commissioner Nick Fish

Commissioner Amanda Fritz
Commissioner Steve Novick
Commissioner Dan Saltzman