Rideshare concept needs study

Re Ridesharing ripe for regulation, May 13 The taxi industry is scrambling to update a business model that has not seen significant change in the past 65 years. These adjustments, primarily in the adoption of broker-specific apps and computer dispatching, will benefit the travelling public, commercial and institutional accounts, as well as drivers and taxi owners.

The taxi industry also has to adjust to the challenge from rideshare companies. Daniel Debow points out that what is required is for the rideshare operators to have “background checks, training and insurance.” Virtually all analyses of the situation gloss over these items without getting into the specifics of who will provide (and pay for) the checks and training, as well as the administration of vehicle and insurance verification.

There is a need for an integrated system to handle these aspects of the business. The question is should the city be in charge of this or can we trust the rideshare companies to be self-policing?

A potential rideshare operator, faced with a training program similar to that which taxi drivers take, paying for a criminal record search and three safety inspections a year, and paying for commercial vehicle insurance ($5,000-plus per year), might think twice about taking on an enterprise such as this.

This entire subject needs a thorough analysis. Mark Sexsmith, Toronto

How could there be any business more transparent than the Toronto taxis? All of them have a door number, roof light, taxi licence plate on the back bumper, tariff card at the back of the front seat, name and picture of the driver, taxi meter, dispatcher tablet, two-way radio, camera, no-smoking sign and emergency flashing light. Does Uber equip its cars with these? Lobbying for one’s interest is one thing; ignorance of the status quo is another thing. Ray Sabatin, Scarborough