Ride-hailing group says B.C. model looks a lot like taxis

A coalition of businesses and interest groups advocating ride-hailing in British Columbia says legislation introduced this week will just create an expanded taxi industry, not the ride-hailing services that customers expect.

Ian Tostenson of Ridesharing Now for B.C. said the coalition is especially concerned that the Passenger Transportation Board would have power to limit the number of drivers on the road and where they can drive, and also to set rates.

“I always see (ride-hailing) as an accordion, that the consumer drives how many cars are on the road at any point in time to handle the demand,” he said at a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“What we heard was a system that the transportation board is going to determine how many cars are on the road in any particular area at any particular time, which completely defeats the purpose, we think, of ride sharing.”

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena introduced the legislation Monday saying it balances consumer demand and public safety.

It proposes to give the Passenger Transportation Board expanded powers to accept applications and set terms and conditions for licences covering taxis and ridehailing services like Uber and Lyft, she said. The tribunal would also have the authority to set rates and determine the number and coverage areas of the services.

A legislative committee to review and make changes to the system would also be appointed, she added.

Timothy Burr Jr., director of public policy for ride-hailing company Lyft, said the company sees the legislation as a “procedural step forward,” but the regulation and rule-making process will come next. Some of the regulations proposed, such as a requirement that drivers have a Class 4 commercial licence, would limit the company ’s ability to deliver “true” ride-hailing by making it onerous for drivers to sign up and comply, he said.

“Class 4 ignores the reality of how true ride sharing would work. At Lyft, over 93 per cent of our drivers drive fewer than 20 hours (a week). These are folks who are looking for part-time economic opportunities and they want to use Lyft as additional income,” he said.

The company is committed to working with the B.C. government to bring the service to the province, he added.

Shauna Brail, associate professor in urban studies at the University of Toronto, said Edmonton was the first Canadian city to regulate ride hailing in 2016 and now 20 of Canada’s 30 largest cities have some form of regulations governing the operation of the services.

In August, New York City voted to cap the number of ride-hailing cars on the road after some studies showed congestion increased after the service was introduced.

Brail said that while B.C. has been slow to join, in some ways it has had the benefit of learning from the experience of others.

“They skipped over ride-hailing 1.0 and they ’re at ride-hailing 2.0,” she said.