BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Local state legislators are rolling out another initiative they hope will bring ridesharing to Upstate New York.
Inside the Albright Knox auditorium Friday, Senator Kennedy, Senator Jacobs and Assemblyman Kearns announced four public forums in the next two months, inviting the public to let their voices be heard on ridesharing.
"Buffalo is an amazing city," Senator Tim Kennedy said. "Buffalo is on the move. We see a tremendous amount of progress before our very eyes. But where are Uber and Lyft?"
It is a topic that they said has made some progress, most recently added to Governor Cuomo's 2017 budget. But it still has a ways to go.
"All these young people staying here," the senator said. "All these young people coming back, setting up shop, setting up their families. We want to make sure that they have access to all the transportation options that they do in other trendy cities."
The legislators pointed out multiple benefits they said ridesharing brings: a tool to combat drunk driving, a tool for the isolated elderly to get around and a tool for the disabled.
But they also pointed out the opportunities that we continually miss out on, like the crowds of visitors expected in Buffalo for the NCAA Tournament who will go to their ridesharing apps only to find no services.
"We need to have ridesharing services, Uber and Lyft, in place when those thousands of people pour into our community once again so we can brag to the rest of the world how we are technologically advanced, we are with the 21st century," Kennedy said.
Legislators said Upstate New York will not see ridesharing until April at the earliest.
Until then, they said the public's support from these forums will be critical to ensuring it does not get dropped or forgotten.
The four forums begin in Buffalo on February 11 at Albright-Knox. They will continue on through Upstate New York with stops in Rochester, Syracuse and a final one in Albany.