University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 4-15-2020 Curb-sided: How Technology Disrupts the American Transportation Planning Process Mary Angelica Painter University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the American Politics Commons, Comparative Politics Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Transportation Commons, and the Urban Studies Commons Recommended Citation Painter, Mary Angelica, "Curb-sided: How Technology Disrupts the American Transportation Planning Process" (2020). Dissertations. 932. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/932 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Curb-sided: How Technology Disrupts the American Transportation Planning Process Mary Angelica Painter M.IR., International Relations, Webster University, 2013 B.A., Political Science, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 2010 A Dissertation Submitted to The Graduate School at the University of Missouri-St. Loui in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science May 2020 Advisory Committee Todd Swanstrom, Ph.D. Chairperson David Kimball, Ph.D. Dave Robertson, Ph.D. Anita Manion, Ph.D. Copyright, Mary Angelica Painter, 2020 Abstract The disruptive arrival of Uber, Lyft, and other transportation network companies (TNCs) into American cities ignited arguments on how policy-makers should regulate such entities. Policy debates started among policymakers, companies, and existing industries and interests. In attempts to persuade policy, actors adopted a variety of language and used different levels of government to achieve policy goals. In almost all cases, TNCs were able to gain favorable policy through image framing and venue shopping – the key components to Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET). This analysis looks at the policy process of three American cities: Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, and Austin, TX. Transportation network companies framed the issue favorably to their policy demands, winning over the public, drivers, and policymakers in most cases. However, when the political climate was harsher for TNCs, they sought sympathy from policy makers in different regulator institutions. Conversely, taxi interests were unable to use the same tactics to achieve their demands. I argue that this is due to TNC’s ability to appeal to framing suitable for target audiences, mainly free-market, business-friendly, and tech-savvy language. This language appealed to mayors, city council members, and state lawmakers, making TNCs able to “shop” from one level of government to another to achieve lax regulation and company oversight. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Ride-Hailing Technology on the Rise ......................................................................... 1 Technology as a Policy Problem................................................................................................... 4 Significance of Understanding the Policy Process ........................................................................ 6 Conceptual Framework of the Study ............................................................................................. 9 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................................. 11 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................. 12 Research Impacts ....................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 16 Contemporary theoretical Explanations for TNC Policy Process ................................................ 18 Gaps in Literature ....................................................................................................................... 25 Punctuated Equilibrium Theory ................................................................................................... 28 Closing Policy Process Gaps ...................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3: Theory and Methodology .......................................................................................... 39 Theoretical Basis ........................................................................................................................ 40 Hypotheses on the Policy Process ............................................................................................. 41 Data ............................................................................................................................................ 42 Methodological Approach ........................................................................................................... 45 Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 4: Déjà Vu and the Case of Depression Era Taxi Regulation ..................................... 50 Taxi Service in New York City Before the Depression ................................................................ 51 Post-Depression Taxi Policy Process ......................................................................................... 52 The Haas Act and Punctuated Equilibrium ................................................................................. 57 What Old Regulations Mean for New Players ............................................................................. 60 Lessons from History for New Policy Processes ......................................................................... 63 Chapter 5: St. Louis – Capacity, Venues, and Political Losses ................................................ 65 Current TNC Regulation ............................................................................................................. 65 Policy Creation in St. Louis ......................................................................................................... 66 TNCs in St. Louis – A Policy Process ......................................................................................... 68 Issue Framing and Venue Shopping ........................................................................................... 79 Chapter 6: Chicago – Agenda, Venues, and Power ................................................................... 85 Current TNC Regulation ............................................................................................................. 86 Policy Creation in Chicago .......................................................................................................... 87 TNCs in Chicago – A Policy Process .......................................................................................... 88 Issue Framing and Venue Shopping ......................................................................................... 109 Chapter 7: Austin – Voters, Venues, and Regulatory Power .................................................. 118 Current TNC Regulation ........................................................................................................... 118 Policy Creation in Austin ........................................................................................................... 119 TNCs in Austin – A Policy Process ........................................................................................... 120 Issue Framing and Venue Shopping ......................................................................................... 138 Chapter 8: Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 148 Overall Trends .......................................................................................................................... 154 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 156 Future Work .............................................................................................................................. 159 References .................................................................................................................................. 161 Chapter 1 – Ride-Hailing Technology on the Rise Vehicle dependence undeniably defines transportation in the United States. Patterns of excessive vehicle use stem from decades of car culture, mostly trending upwards throughout the 20th century. After years of rising numbers of personal vehicles and highway building and repair, Congress and the Executive of the United States developed landmark legislation that envisioned a post-interstate, private vehicle centered transportation system (Schweppe 2001). The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 poised to shift transportation decision making to state and local agencies from federal bureaucratic institutions. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) would engage all stakeholders in the transportation planning process. In doing so, emphasis on highways would