Columbia City Council to vote on expanding downtown rideshare stands
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on an ordinance that would nearly double the number of downtown parking spaces designated for taxis and rideshare services.
The proposal would expand the downtown taxi and rideshare footprint from 34 spaces to 66. It would also begin operating the stands at 9 p.m., two hours earlier than the current 11 p.m. start time. The stands would continue operating until 2 a.m.
The designated areas would include parking spaces along Broadway, Cherry, Ninth, Tenth and Walnut streets.
The proposed ordinance would also include food and package delivery drivers, impose a 15-minute loading and unloading limit and allow emergency services to use the designated areas while the ordinance is in effect.
Columbia Public Works and the Columbia Police Department proposed the changes in response to increased rideshare use downtown. According to a council memo, the city intends for the ordinance to reduce traffic congestion, illegal stopping and double parking while improving pedestrian safety.
CPD reported an increase in overnight traffic congestion connected to rideshare operators and customers violating traffic laws in August 2025. The city said those problems stemmed from a lack of designated places for operators and customers to use rideshare services.
Documents state the city tested portions of the proposed ordinance during two University of Missouri football game weekends last fall.
On Sept. 19 and 20, 2025, the city temporarily blocked metered parking spaces to create a rideshare pull-off zone. The following month, the city again blocked off metered parking and worked with Uber and Lyft to test designated pickup and drop-off areas.
During the October pilot, Uber and Lyft directed customers to the designated locations through their smartphone applications. The city said both pilot weekends resulted in a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety.
“During this testing both rideshare platforms guided patrons to the specific locations for pick up inside of their smartphone applications. The results of both of these pilot weekends saw a dramatic reduction in traffic violations and an overall improvement in pedestrian safety,” city documents say.
A council memo says the city also asked for feedback from rideshare drivers and customers during the pilots and received positive responses. According to the memo, rideshare drivers reported that the arrangement felt safer, while one driver said drivers needed clearer directions for operating downtown.
The Community Improvement District provided positive feedback on an earlier version of the ordinance. The city says a majority of the district supports updating the ordinance’s hours.
The city estimates updating signs at the designated stands will cost $750, with a negligible long-term financial impact.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
