Ride-hailing won’t be here for Christmas, MLA says
A new delay to ride-hailing in B.C. makes it unlikely Uber or Lyft will be operating for the holiday season, says Liberal MLA Jas Johal.
“British Columbians who hoped they could take an Uber or Lyft after their staff Christmas party or a New Year’s event, will now instead be forced to wait hours for taxi service,” Johal said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Johal released a letter that was sent Wednesday by the Passenger Transportation Board to ride-hail applicants, the largest being Lyft and Uber. The letter said the independent board, which is responsible for managing ride-hailing in the province, had changed its application process in light of a judicial review examining the board’s rules around ride-hailing. Among other things, B.C.’s taxi industry claims it’s unfair that there are no limits on the number of ride-hailing vehicles, as there are for cabs.
The letter, written by board chairwoman Catharine Read, said the board has decided to modify its ride-hailing applications process to “provide further disclosure to submitters to ensure transparency in its decision-making process.”
The result is that each applicant will be able to see one another’s application, subject to freedom of information and privacy laws. The letter states each applicant will also get to see what is going to be sent to the other applicants. The applicant has seven days to review what will get sent out to other applicants. Once sent out, each applicant gets two weeks to assess one another’s submissions. Only then will all the submissions be reviewed.
The B.C. government had promised that the Passenger Transportation Board would begin reviewing applications at the end of September and that ride-hailing would be in place by the end of the year. The letter indicated the review process would be delayed by 21 days. That means it’s unlikely British Columbians will see ride-hailing before Christmas, said Johal.
“Whether it’s the 21-day rule or Class 4 licensing requirements, this action is yet another reminder the NDP’s priority is to stifle real ride-hailing and placate the taxi lobby,” Johal said.