Uber GM optimistic about December return to city
Ride-share giant Uber is gearing up to relaunch in Calgary, if changes to the existing ride-share bylaw are passed by city council later this month. Ramit Kar, the Western Canada general manager at Uber, spoke with Postmedia’s Annalise Klingbeil about ong
Q So, the bylaw amendments that Uber has said would enable Uber to operate in Calgary will be discussed by an advisory committee this Friday, then go to council for approval. What has Uber been doing while waiting for the bylaw changes to go to council?
A We’ve been continuing dialogue with councillors as well as administration to really let them know that, hey, these changes, if adopted, will help us come back to the city. On top of that, what we’re doing (Thursday) is sending an (email) message to the 100,000 Calgarians who’ve signed up for Uber, in some shape or form, and telling them if these changes do get adopted, we’re going to be able to come back to town.
Q Have you met with the mayor or members of his staff?
A We’ve actually been actively working with the mayor’s staff as well as councillors and admin for the better part of two years now. So (the discussions) actually never stopped. We’ve always been in constant talks.
Q If the bylaw amendments go to council at the end of November, and they’re passed — I know that’s lots of ifs — how soon could Uber operate in Calgary?
A Hypothetically, if that were to happen, we could be starting, you know, days after that kind of thing. Hopefully early December, but we’re excited if it’s sooner, too.
Q What are the steps drivers have to take to work in Calgary, and do you have enough drivers signed up?
A We’ve had droves of drivers come in and say, ‘I want this as an earning opportunity.’ For the past few months, we’ve been holding onboarding sessions where people can bring in the documents (and) we take them through the process on what needs to be done to get ready to be on the road as soon as the bylaw changes. The interest has been very high and we expect right after we launch that interest will just skyrocket even more.
Q I understand the city of Airdrie recently decided to rely on the province’s ride-sharing regulations, instead of creating new ride-sharing requirements. Are you planning to launch in Airdrie?
A That was a very positive sign what Airdrie did. We do always want to serve more Albertans and Airdrie specifically is on that list. I don’t have a specific date on when we’re going to be in Airdrie, but I do hope to serve them as soon as possible.
Q So you’re in Edmonton, possibly Calgary within a matter of weeks, maybe Airdrie. Do you have other Alberta cities on the list?
A We literally do want to be everywhere. We’ve been in conversations with Lethbridge, we’ve been in conversations with Red Deer and early conversations with other cities as well. We really do want to be everywhere. With time, hopefully, that will come, but the big two would be Edmonton and Calgary first.