Unwelcome Lyft for Uber

Uber the disrupter is now Uber the disrupted. As of next month, the company’s status as Canada’s premier ride-hailing provider will be challenged by its main rival, Lyft, which will offer its own ride-hailing services to residents in the Toronto area and Hamilton.

It’s a big move for the much smaller Lyft, which is making its first foray out of the United States. But it also represents a welcome move for people trying to get around in some of southern Ontario’s most populous communities. And it shows, once again, that time, tide and technology stop for no one.

Think back a few years to when Uber brazenly barged into Ontario markets such as Toronto, Hamilton and Waterloo Region. Without the prior consent of local municipal governments, Uber began offering its smartphone app-based private transportation services, operated by drivers who owed their vehicles.

The traditional taxi cab industry went ballistic, claiming Uber represented unfair competition because it didn’t face the regulatory red tape that bound taxi drivers. There were demands for Uber to be blocked or heavily regulated. Municipal governments scrambled to react to what in many cases seemed an Uber fait accompli. And in some other countries, Uber was banned.

But when it came down to Ontario consumers, the vote most definitely went in Uber’s favour. People flocked to Uber with its convenience, its often, but not always, cheaper fares and levels of personal service generally considered high. In the end, municipalities such as Toronto, Hamilton and Waterloo Region introduced new bylaws that legalized but regulated app-based transportation companies alongside the taxis.

That was the right decision — freedom to operate but with rules.

Things appear to have stayed quiet on the private transportation front since then. The people running Uber may have felt secure in their victory.

Now, Uber is the established player facing an upstart’s challenge. On so many levels that’s a sweet turn of events.

First, while Uber is North America’s ride-hailing king, it’s often an unpopular monarch. It has been hit by scandals and lawsuits that led to a #DeleteUber movement. There have been complaints that some of its drivers are poorly treated. Earlier this year its founder and chief executive officer, Travis Kalanick, was replaced.

The arguments in favour of allowing app-based private transportation services were never about supporting Uber; they were about finding a reasonable way to accept a new, technological possibility. Soon, people in the Toronto area and Hamilton and, eventually in other parts of the province, will have even more choice. For the consumers, that’s all good. Let taxis and ride-hailing services alike see who can offer the best prices, safest, most efficient drives and the best hospitality. And let the public have the freedom to choose.

Uber may have to up its game. As for the future, don’t expect the latest changes to become the status quo.

Within a few years, taxis, Uber, Lyft and other services could all be driving their fares in — what else? — driverless cars.