Uber still on ho-ho-hold in holiday season

My first experience travelling in an Uber car wasn’t a happy one: I got ripped off like a rube by an underhanded driver.

But I still believe Uber and other ride-hailing services should be allowed to operate in B.C. Let me explain:

I encountered my scamming Uber driver three weeks ago in New York. I was having no luck hailing a taxi in Manhattan when an Uber car pulled up to the curb to disgorge some passengers.

I told the driver I didn’t have the Uber app installed on my phone. He just smiled.

“Hop in,” he said happily. “I’ll just charge you a metered rate.”

Like a complete sucker, I did what I was told. And after a short ride that should have cost me about 12 bucks in a taxi, he demanded $41.

He displayed the fare on the “meter app” running on his phone — not the official Uber app. I complained but paid him off.

I got taken for a ride, all right. But I blame myself, not Uber. If I had hailed the exact same car using the Uber app, I wouldn’t have been cheated.

That’s because I downloaded the official app shortly after this unfortunate experience and the service worked like a charm. Every Uber ride was quick and courteous in cars that were clean and comfortable.

The famous New York taxi industry hasn’t gone the way of the Dodo Bird despite the new competition. Though New York cab licences have eroded in value, taxis are still doing a brisk business.

Isn’t it time B.C. joined the rest of the modern world and allowed passengers to use a basic service available in every other major North American city?

Instead, the governing NDP has broken its election promise to legalize Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services by the end of this year. That’s a real shame, especially with the Christmas party season now in full swing. Imagine how many partygoers won’t be able to find a cab and might be tempted to get behind the wheel after an eggnog or two.

At least the government has consented to the formation of an all-party committee at the legislature to study the issue (again) and produce (another) report by February. But that won’t be the end of it, of course. The government has commissioned a separate report and I think we’ll be lucky to get Uber next year.

The ridiculous delay not only increases the chances of drunk drivers hitting the roads this holiday season, it’s also hurting our economy. I’ve heard of at least two major conventions that skipped Vancouver because of the Uber ban.

It’s been a five-year-long failure of leadership that will hopefully, finally, be corrected in 2018.