ANGER OVER RIDE-SHARING
Committee gets blast from cabbies
Four hours proved an insufficient amount of time to address all the concerns Saskatoon’s taxi industry has with introducing ride-sharing.
Tuesday’s special four-hour meeting to deal with more flexible rules for taxis and allowing ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft to operate will be continued on June 27.
Nearly 20 people lined up to speak to city council’s transportation committee meeting, an extension of a June 11 meeting held to accommodate the proposed changes.
The committee heard concerns that the city’s attempt to create a level field for taxis and ridesharing companies had failed to achieve the right balance.
“(Taxis and ride-sharing vehicles are) transporting people from Point A to Point B, so they’re essentially doing the same thing,” United Group taxi company general manager Carlo Triolo said.
Taxi company representatives echoed a common theme on the proposals from the City of Saskatoon: That they gave ride-sharing companies an advantage and that people in the taxi industry were not consulted sufficiently.
The base cab fare would be set at $3.75 under the proposed rules, while the starting rate for a ridesharing company would be $3.10.
The responsibility for criminal record checks for ride-sharing drivers would rest with companies like Uber and Lyft, and they wouldn’t be required to have cameras in vehicles.
Ride-sharing drivers would not have to pay the $525 taxi licence fee that taxi drivers must pay.
“There seems to be almost no rationale for anything in this report, other than it’s being done in Edmonton,” said Kelly Frie, manager of Comfort Cabs.
Sandra Boire, speaking for the Saskatchewan Taxi Cab Association, said taxis offer more security due to the extra requirement for background checks and the presence of cameras in taxis.
“Shouldn’t a woman entering a (ride-sharing vehicle) have the same protection as a woman entering a taxi?” she asked.
A city report embraces a proposal from taxi companies to eliminate seasonal licences in favour of “flex” licences to allow more cabs on the streets during high-demand times.
Several cab drivers, however, restated their support for an idea called Sask. Plates that would create 50 more permanent licences that couldn’t be transferred to other drivers.
Cab driver Mubarik Syed reminded the committee that hundreds of families in Saskatoon depend on the taxi industry.
Everywhere ride-sharing has been allowed, the effect on the taxi industry has been “devastating and detrimental,” Syed said.
Michael van Hammen, an Uber Canada representative from Vancouver, said the app-based company opposes a proposal for City of Saskatoon decals to be displayed on ride-sharing vehicles.
Van Hammen said that, in jurisdictions where ride-sharing companies operate, they account for less than one per cent of vehicle travel.
“We don’t want to make it more difficult to get around,” said van Hammen of concerns about greater congestion.
In the absence of a local location with a phone number, Uber collects customer feedback online and through its app, van Hammen said. Uber also has toll-free phone numbers, he added.
Uber pays licence fees through the cost of each trip, van Hammen said.
The meeting is scheduled to resume at city hall on June 27 at noon. The outcome of that meeting will be considered by city council on July 23.
The city is trying to prepare new rules for taxis and ride-sharing so they can be approved this fall when provincial legislative changes are finalized.