Sitka moves to fix its late-night ride problem

Getting a ride in Sitka after dark, or out to the airport on a busy cruise day, can be a problem. There are few taxis, no Uber or Lyft, and a permitting process the city says has discouraged new drivers — complaints residents raised at a 2023 town hall and at Police and Fire Commission meetings.

The Assembly takes up a rewrite of Sitka's late-1990s taxicab code on Aug. 11. It would cover every kind of paid ride under one set of rules: taxis, tours, shuttles and limousines, and human-powered vehicles like pedicabs, which currently have none.

Fares would shift to flat zone-based rates posted in each vehicle. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles would get reduced fees. Most violations would drop from misdemeanors to civil infractions, though insurance violations stay criminal, and the city would stop duplicating permits the state already handles.