New coalition campaigns for ride-hailing services in B.C.

Eight B.C. organizations are joining forces to advocate ride-hailing services in the province as soon as possible.

The Ridesharing Now B.C. coalition has been formed by groups including the Vancouver Board of Trade, B.C. Business Council and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

A release from the coalition says it has launched a letter-writing campaign to B.C. politicians calling for a competitive ride-hailing industry “that can deliver muchneeded choice to B.C. passengers.”

Supporters are directed to theridesharingnow.com website, where they can sign and email a letter to their representative in the legislature calling for speedy introduction of ride-hailing services.

“The B.C. government appears to be moving toward a model that would simply replace the taxi monopoly with a one-app monopoly that favours taxis,” Coalition spokesman Ian Tostenson says in the release.