Meter still running on ride-hailing
Six years after a ridehailing firm first barged into Vancouver (and got run out of town) the provincial government has finally developed a framework for such services in B.C.
Black-market services have carried on since then in Metro Vancouver, but as far as officialdom is concerned, it's been years of dithering about what to do about the revolutionary phone-based approach to personal transportation.
There will be much more delay, but a bill introduced Monday at least sets some kind of direction for what legal ride-hailing will look like in B.C. – eventually.
The Passenger Transportation Amendment Act sets out to do two things at once.
It changes the regulation of the existing taxi business and creates a new regime for ride-hailing. Then it lumps the two competing spheres together – they'll all be considered "passenger directed vehicles” – for regulatory purposes.
It also sets out to yank a lot of authority away from local governments when it comes to how the taxi system works, and how ride-hailing is expected to work.
The Passenger Transportation Board is going to get a lot more authority, and will need a lot more staff and resources, to consider all future applications from transportation network companies.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevena promised that "people will no longer be left stranded" under the new law.
Refusal of service and difficulties getting taxis are a perennial serious problem, mostly in Metro Vancouver, as jurisdictional issues force drivers to deadhead back empty to their home city.
The new bill eliminates the need for taxi and other drivers to obtain municipal chauffeur permits in each municipality. It also "clarifies the exclusive jurisdiction" of the Passenger Transportation Board in determining supply, and the boundaries of operating areas.
Local governments will be left only with enforcement of traffic bylaws, business licences, some vehicle type restrictions and taxi-stand locations.
Surprisingly, the bill also ignores the recommendations of both an independent expert Trevena retained to advise, and a legislature committee on one key aspect.
Ride-hailing firms employ mostly part-time drivers, and wanted people with Class 5 licences – the most common – made eligible for that work.
Taxi expert Dan Hara recommended that, and so did the all-party legislature committee that reviewed the issues.
But the bill stipulates that all drivers with such firms will require Class 4 licences. That's a higher standard that requires a medical check and regular criminal-record checks, as well as a slightly more rigorous driving test.
The PTB will also have more authority to determine fares, which will include a per-trip fee to fund an assured supply of disability-accessible vehicles.
The NDP government also confirmed the previously set long timeline for implementation. It will be a year before applications from new firms will be accepted, and no one would say Monday exactly what the target date is to get ride-hailing up and running.
A lot depends on ICBC coming up with a new kilometre-based insurance policy that can click off and on when a driver picks up a fare. This past summer, the NDP allowed for more fare flexibility and opened up the process for hundreds more cabs all over B.C.
The previous B.C. Liberal government was belatedly starting down the same road toward ride-hailing just before the election. The NDP in opposition scorned their approach, and started over when it took power.
Liberals had planned to fund new technology for taxis and allow them to maintain a monopoly on curb hails and taxi stands. They also were going to accept Class 5 licence holders as drivers.
The NDP is taking a different route. But they were both trying to do the same thing - meet the huge popular demand for ride-hailing, without doing too much damage to the taxi industry.
Even after ride-hailing arrives, in 2019 or 2020, a new legislature committee is being set up to keep watch on how that balancing act is going.
Les Leyne covers the legislature for the Victoria Times Colonist.