Headway is being made in the efforts to get ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority submitted a 15 page report to the Legislative Counsel Bureau for review earlier this week.
The report includes draft guidelines for ride-sharing companies to operate, but it may still take a while for those regulations to be vetted by lawmakers.
Rick Velotta is a transportation reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said the report may be revised by the counsel or it might be sent directly back to the transportation authority.
"The process has pretty much been expedited as much as can be done but that's still not fast enough for a lot of people who want the service," Velotta told KNPR's State of Nevada.
The report includes a drop in the fee for the companies to start rolling. Originally, it was $500,000, but it has been lowered to $300,000. While Uber said that fee is much higher than it pays in every other market it operates in, Las Vegas is a lucrative market that it wants access to, Velotta said.
"There's a great potential to make a lot of money because this is such a taxi dependent community here especially for tourists."
Since Uber and Lyft are known around the world, they have high recognition for tourists from other areas.
The cab companies have been actively involved in the effort to regulate the companies, but rules that were proposed by the industry were thrown out because they were too onerous, Velotta said.
There is no date on when the companies will be able to start picking up riders.
Rick Velotta, columnist, Las Vegas Review-Journal
