Councillors divided on merits of Uber as data shows local interest in service
Looking at new data provided by Uber, it seems that people in Regina — visitors or residents — want the ride-sharing service to come to the Queen City.
While residents may want it, if the service ever does come to Regina, it will be a decision made by the province, not the city.
“Under the Cities Act, the city regulates taxis and Uber is not a taxi service,” Mayor Michael Fougere said.
“We would not regulate that unless the province gave us the authority to do that.”
In Saskatchewan, in order to charge for rides, a driver must have a Class 4 licence, which includes medical and criminal record checks, as well as $1 million in liability insurance. Any car transporting passengers for cash must also have a class PT licence plate, the same used by taxi cabs. According to Uber, the minimum requirements the company has for drivers is that drivers meet the minimum driving age requirement, are legally allowed to drive, and valid documentation to drive. Drivers also complete a short online screening process.
Despite the provincial regulations, Uber has been something brought up by residents to Fougere.
“I have had a lot of questions from residents about (Uber),” Fougere said.
“Competition breeds excellence and maybe this is a way to provide even better service.”
Fougere said that Uber had approached the city after the 2012 election to gauge interest in the service, but nothing has been brought up since then.
In data provided by Uber, 15,523 people in Saskatchewan attempted to use the Uber app to request a ride from April to June of 2017, despite the service not being offered in the province. Currently, Uber is found in several cities across Canada including Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton. Several municipalities and provinces are also looking at implementing Uber. Manitoba is proposing legislation to enable ride-sharing this fall, while political parties in British Columbia are promising ride-sharing by the end of the year.
A heat map provided by Uber, where each dot represented the location of the first time a unique user opened the Uber app, showed that the highest concentrations for potential Uber use were at the airport and downtown. Several pockets in the University of Regina area, and on the east side of Regina near Prince of Wales drive, also showed up.
Coun. Andrew Stevens said Uber has done positive things, but the solution is not putting more cars on the road.
“It has changed how taxis interact with potential clients and riders,” Stevens said. “When it comes to the airport and getting around the city, I don’t think Uber and more cars on the road is the solution. What we need to talk about is a bus stop at the airport, public transit improvements, cycling infrastructure, you name it. More cars is not going to be the solution.”
Coun. Joel Murray, who has used Uber in other cities, feels the service would be a good thing for Regina.
“It is a different service than taxis and it caters to a different clientele,” he said. “Every experience I have had with Uber has been good. It would be good to have more choice for our market.”
Glen Sali, manager of Capital Cabs, does not see Uber as a step in the right direction.
“It is not going to be good for the industry,” he said. “It is going to have a major impact on our business. With all the regulations we have to go through and follow, then they allow someone to go unregulated in the industry. It is not good.”
Looking at the impact Uber has had on the taxi industry elsewhere, Sali did feel that work could be done to improve the taxi industry for customers.
“We are trying to improve the taxi industry because I know we do have to improve,” he said. “That is what people want. They want good drivers. We have to improve the fleet for the customers.”
Each year, 10 million trips are provided by Uber drivers in over 600 cities around the world. Uber currently has two million active drivers worldwide.