Regulations and notices
Overview
King County is responsible for approving taxi, for-hire, and TNC companies and drivers who wish to operate in the following areas: King County, Port of Seattle including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (requires additional Port of Seattle authorization) and within the city limits of Auburn, Bellevue, Burien, Covington, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kent, Kirkland, Maple Valley, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, and Shoreline.
King County and the City of Seattle partner to regulate the for-hire industry under the terms of an interlocal agreement whereby King County manages all for-hire driver licensing functions for both jurisdictions and Seattle manages all for-hire vehicle licensing functions for both jurisdictions. Regulations across the two jurisdictions vary slightly and complete versions of each set of regulations are available:
Notice of proposed administrative rule and opportunity to comment
The director of the City of Seattle's Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) and the director of King County's Department of Executive Services (DES), acting under the authority of Seattle Municipal Code chapter 3.02 and chapter 6.310, section 6.310.140, and King County Code chapter 2.98 and chapter 6.64, section 6.64.021 and section 6.64.111.C, respectively, propose adopting a rule concerning the Wheelchair Accessible Services Fund (the Fund) and using the Fund to reimburse owners and drivers of wheelchair accessible vehicles for certain costs. Seattle and King County intend to repeal Seattle rule FOR-HIRE-TRANSPORTATION-04-2020 and King County rule FIN-10-3-2-PR.
The proposal would extend for another year the provisions of the Fund reimbursement rule adopted in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, the proposed rule would:
- Suspend minimum operating requirements to be eligible for certain reimbursement types through December 2021; and
- Allow WAV owners to request reimbursement for eligible maintenance and equipment costs incurred in 2021 on a quarterly basis rather than having to wait until the end of the year.
Written comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 3, 2021 and may be emailed to sean.bouffiou@kingcounty.gov.
