Chicago, Ill.—A new poll commissioned by the Institute for Justice finds that Illinoisans have little interest in creating arbitrary regulations prohibiting ridesharing drivers from dropping off passengers at airports or convention centers. The poll comes as the Chicago City Council is set to consider on Wednesday a proposal that would prohibit ridesharing drivers from driving passengers to two of the City’s most common—and lucrative—destinations.

“By nearly two-to-one, Illinois residents think that ridesharing drivers should be able to drop off passengers at some of the city’s most common and lucrative destinations,” said Anthony Sanders, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based public interest law firm. “It is clear that the goal of government regulations should be to protect the public health and safety, not to protect politically-connected interests, like the city’s taxicab companies.”

Poll Question: Should ridesharing drivers who work for companies like UberX and Lyft be allowed to drop off customers at airports and convention centers?

Yes 62.3%

No 37.7%

About the poll: The poll was conducted April 26-28 using Google Surveys. The survey had 1002 responses from Illinoisans. It has a margin of error of ±3.1%.

“There is no justification to prohibit ridesharing drivers from dropping off passengers at airports or convention centers. It is protectionism plain and simple.” said IJ Attorney Renée Flaherty. “The city is likely setting aside these lucrative fares in the hopes of quelling the cab companies’ concerns of competition, but in doing so, it creates an unjustified, two-tiered system that deprives ridesharing drivers of an opportunity to compete on equal footing. Thankfully, this poll demonstrates that Illinoisans have no interest in seeing these protectionist provisions codified into law.”

In March, the Institute for Justice filed a motion on behalf of ridesharing drivers to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Chicago’s taxicab companies. The cab companies’ lawsuit demands that the federal courts freeze the city’s transportation regulations in order to protect cab owners from competition. The motion filed by IJ and the ridesharing drivers seeks to have the companies’ baseless lawsuit dismissed, or barring that, at least prevent the city from caving to the cab companies’ demands. Sanders and Flaherty are co-counsel in the case.