Uber and Lyft expect to be carrying passengers in B.C. within days
Credit to Author: Rob Shaw| Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 02:49:51 +0000
VICTORIA — Uber and Lyft vehicles may be on the road in some Metro Vancouver cities within days, after they got provincial permits on Thursday. But the companies still face a patchwork of local business licences that make the service initially unavailable in some municipalities.
B.C.’s independent Passenger Transportation Board ruled both companies can operate in the Lower Mainland and Whistler. It did not impose a cap on the number of vehicles they can use and did not put restrictions on variable rates and “surge” pricing during peak demand.
Both companies said they would begin operations within days and moved quickly obtained ride-hailing auto insurance on Thursday from the Insurance Corp. of B.C.
“We’re hoping to launch in multiple municipalities at once, but given some of the restrictions on Class 4 (driver’s licences), don’t expect that we will be able to cover all of Metro Vancouver on day 1 — but hopefully quickly thereafter,” said Michael van Hemmen, Uber’s head of Western Canada operations.
Recruiting drivers remains a challenge, said van Hemmen. The government’s decision to require Class 4 licences with extra training and tests has prevented some safe drivers from being able to provide rides, he said.
The provincial approval came as Metro Vancouver mayors finish work on an interim regional business licence for ride-hailing, which is expected to be ready by the end of the month. For now, Uber and Lyft will have to go to each municipality for a local business licence, where one is available, and they will face differing fees, requirements and processing times.
In Vancouver, Mayor Kennedy Stewart said the city expedited the process to issue local approvals by the end of day Thursday.
But in Surrey, the process is sure to be more difficult. Mayor Doug McCallum has pledged allegiance to the taxi sector and vowed to use the local business licence process as a way to block or restrict ride-hailing.
TransLink’s Mayors’ Council will announce the framework of a regional ride-hailing licence in late January or early February, but it will still be up to each individual council to decide whether they will join the licensing system, said Jonathan Coté, Mayors’ Council chair and mayor of New Westminster.
“There is a bit of a patchwork right now right now where some cities have set up their own individual processes, but many cities have actually not set up any process, and in that situation nothing needs to be applied for yet,” he said.
Coté said he thinks municipalities will make the regional licence issue a high priority and move to adopt it quickly once it is ready.
The B.C. government demanded late last year that mayors set up a regional licence to prevent individual cities from frustrating ride-hailing and warned that if it didn’t happen, the province may intervene.
Provincial approval came two years later than promised by the NDP government.
“I know people wanted it immediately,” said Transportation Minister Claire Trevena. “I was as frustrated as everyone in the time it seemed to be taking. I think in the end, people in B.C. can feel very comfortable in the service they’ll be getting.”
The decision was sure to disappoint the taxi sector, which had exerted political pressure on government to set limits on ride-hailing vehicles and ban so-called predatory pricing.
The Vancouver Taxi Association could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The B.C. Taxi Association issued a statement that expressed their belief that the introduction of ride hailing without limits on number of vehicles and no defined operating areas could spell the end for the taxi industry.
“The taxi industry has not taken the position that there should never be a ride share regime in B.C.,” read the statement issued by BCTA president Mohan Kang.
“B.C. Taxi Association accepts that ride shares would be implemented in some reasonable form however to implement ride shares in a manner that creates such a distinct disadvantage to taxis is not reasonable. That was and remains our position.”
Kang said the BCTA’s lawyers were in the process of reviewing Thursday’s decision and that the association would be meeting in the coming days to decide on a plan of action.
The board in its decisions said economic harm to taxis are simply part of the market adjusting.
Lyft and Uber will have to start fares at a set minimum and are forbidden from using coupons or discounts, but can otherwise use variable pricing based on demand.
“The intended effect of dynamic pricing is to reduce wait times at peak periods by incentivizing drivers and to lower costs at off peak periods to encourage trips,” the board wrote in its decision. “The board does not accept the submission that dynamic pricing is discriminatory in purpose or effect. The price of countless goods and services are dictated by market conditions.”
The board also brushed aside the argument from taxi companies that ride-hailing would devalue the traditional taxi licences obtained by operators.
“We live in a market economy and competition is the norm in marketplaces,” read the decision.
“While the board is sympathetic to the prospect that taxi licence holders may experience a drop in their licence-share value, it has never sanctioned the market for such shares nor does it have the authority to do so. … Taxi licensees created the market and invested in licence shares or used them as collateral. As with any investments, there are associated risks and impacts.”
The Passenger Transportation Board received 29 ride-hailing company applications.
It also announced Thursday it has rejected ReRyde Technologies and Kater.
Kater had tried to get an early jump on competing with ride-hailing by partnering with Vancouver taxis to roll out an early app-based hybrid taxi service. However, the board said its business plan was “incongruous and unrealistic.”
“Kater is aware of the PTB’s decision and is currently reviewing all TNS license application documents,” it said in a statement. “We are very disappointed that a Vancouver company, which has locally developed the technology to provide a much-needed service throughout the province, has been declined.”
With files from Susan Lazaruk, Nick Eagland and Dam Fumano