Ride-hailing fans still stand waiting at curb

It turns out that catching up to the ride-hailing revolution that landed in other jurisdictions years ago is a bit more complicated than the glib outline the NDP advanced during the election.

There are “many complex issues, often accompanied by opposing evidence.”

In fact, there are no fewer than 32 more things to do before ride-hailing could possibly arrive in B.C.

An all-party legislature committee reported out this week after the ride-hailing file was fobbed off on it last year. If the report is a milestone, it’s a very small one — a tiny marker on a seven-year journey that looks as if it still has a while to run.

The major ride-hailing outfits started applying years ago for approvals, but the previous government was paralyzed with indecision. The B.C. Liberals finally decided it would be more popular to do something than nothing, so they outlined an approval regime last year. They stepped back and decided it needed more consultation.

The NDP in opposition was dismissive of the Liberal dithering and accused them of flailing about and creating uncertainty. Their campaign platform presented a crisp outline of how to bring ride-hailing to B.C.

They were going to harness the benefits by building on the existing taxi system. Level playing field, safety first and more rides for everyone during peak demand periods.

“We’ll do it in a way that welcomes technology, supports ride-sharing, respects people in the industry and doesn’t give one group of drivers an unfair advantage. ”

It sounded a lot simpler than what the legislature committee came up with, which is a long, complicated list of issues it wants to see addressed before people can start hailing cars at will.

A surprising number of them involve requiring the companies to agree to open their books to government. The committee wants them to be required to provide trip data in order to support transportation-demand forecasting. That would include wait times, disabled-accessibility data and trip refusals.

Given questions and implications about the employment relationship between the firms and their drivers, the committee also wants them to provide government with a record of each driver’s hours and earnings in order to monitor their labour practices.

The short-form conclusion of the report is that it approves ride-hailing. But all three parties in the legislature had already committed to it, so that’s not a major breakthrough. And the committee’s approval has a probationary feel to it.

Anticipating a strict compliance-enforcement system, the committee wants to raise penalties and fines, and see them imposed on companies as well as drivers, and see fines issued on a daily basis. Service quality would be rated with a feedback system that goes both ways — drivers and passengers could rate each other.

It also wants to complicate the pre-approval process by updating the taxi regulatory regime at the same time government writes a new one for ride-hailing. A separate process has been underway for months, conducted by a consultant who is doing a private review of the taxi industry.

Knitting a popular but disruptive new transportation mode into the traditional taxi industry, without unduly disrupting the taxi system, is the fundamental problem. The committee mildly noted unhappiness with taxi service, saying several witnesses discussed the challenges of getting a cab on evenings, weekends and holidays.

So they want to revamp the taxi business to protect as much of its traditional turf as possible, while allowing the new ride-hailing firms to start up, all the while protecting the public’s personal safety and right to avoid being gouged on prices.

The 32 recommendations are mostly common sense, but turning committee ideas into legislation is going to take a lot longer than expected. So after all parties assured people it would be in by the end of last year, no one is predicting a new arrival date.

Just So You Know: Although the premise of the report is examining how ride-hailing should be allowed in B.C., it’s already here, illegally.

The government’s passenger-transportation branch said several companies are operating illegally in metro Vancouver and the Capital Regional District, connecting riders with unlicensed drivers. As of last month, the branch has issued 20 cease-and-desist orders and levied 23 fines up to $1,150 on drivers.