A North Country assembly representative wants to see ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, legalized in the North Country and around upstate New York.

“Legalizing ride sharing services in upstate New York will allow residents the peace of mind and flexibility to safely visit our local businesses, while also providing a new market for individuals who wish to make some extra money in their free time,” said Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, R-Black River. “Bringing ride sharing services upstate would greatly help the local restaurant economy, create a new part-time job market and help keep our roadways safe from intoxicated drivers.”

He said the state Senate this year passed a bill legalizing such services for upstate New York, but the Assembly didn’t consider it.

“An issue arose regarding the inflated costs of insurance coverage related to these ride sharing services and proved to be a stumbling block for me and many members of the Assembly,” Blankenbush said. “I am in favor of moving forward with a bill to legalize ride sharing because I believe it’s a simple way we can make our roadways safer, but we must ensure the legislation we approve is actually viable and makes sense economically for all parties involved.”

Blankenbush said there is a Temple University study that indicates ride-sharing services “would decrease the number of drunken driving deaths by nearly 6 percent.”

He said an Uber study claims their company could create 13,000 jobs in the upstate region.

“Just last week, Gov. Cuomo made public his support of Uber and its ride sharing service. While I don’t see eye-to-eye with the governor on many issues, I agree with him on this,” Blankenbush said. “It is a bipartisan issue that will save lives and improve our upstate economy. The Assembly Majority must sort out the issues they are having with this legislation and propose a viable solution to get this done.”

Blankenbush represents the 117th Assembly District. It covers a portion of southwest Franklin County, which includes Gouverneur.