According to the province, you'll have to wait until at least the fall of 2019 for ride-hailing services in BC

BC is looking to increase the number of taxis on the road as people continue to wait for ride-hailing services

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you were hoping ride-hailing was coming to BC — you’ll have to wait even longer.

The province announced it won’t be available until at least the fall of 2019, but it’s looking to modernize the taxi industry in the meantime.

“People need to be able to get around safely and reliably,” Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said on Thursday. “That’s why we’re putting more taxis on the streets, and laying the groundwork for new services to enter the market.”

The provincial government will boost the number of cabs on the roads, with a report recommending the increase be by about 15 per cent.According to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, that increase would translate to about 300 more cabs around the Lower Mainland, and 200 more in the rest of BC.

With ride-hailing availability once again pushed back, Trevena claims it’s all to ensure public safety.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re far behind the times at all,” she told reporters. “I would say that we’re doing things in a very methodical way to ensure that we have safety for the people of BC, for those who are looking for a ride, as well as those who are offering a ride. We need to make sure we are providing the best possible options and I think this approach will do that.”

#BREAKING No immediate approval of ride hailing apps like #Uber and #Lyft yet in #BC. Report re: Modernizing Taxi Regulation recommends increasing existing taxi fleet 15% and letting drivers lower prices during off-peak times. “Open entry is not suggested” #bcpoli #Transportation pic.twitter.com/2d7BaLsDj5 — Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) July 19, 2018

Premier John Horgan had promised to make ride-hailing available by the end of last year, but that didn’t happen.

“One of the unique areas about BC is that we have different levels of government have different involvement on jurisdiction when it comes to taxi and when it comes to that,” Trevena said. “We also have to ensure they’re safe, we have an independent Passenger Transportation Board which is an independent tribunal that has a strong involvement with this. These are some of the areas that we have to be very mindful of when we are looking forward.”

Frustration, acceptance among business leaders

Business leaders lamenting the delay of ride hailing include Ian Tostenson who heads up the group RideSharing Now For BC.

“If we can change it and make it faster, we will. You know, it is frustrating, but I woke up today thinking this is not going to happen and I’m going to go to bed tonight saying, you know what, we’re actually going to make it happen.”

He’s also welcoming the addition of up to 500 more taxis across the province, but he considers that a short-term fix.

“It doesn’t really do a lot because ride sharing is about you might need a thousand, you might need 80, you might need 2000. We had almost a million visitors last year on cruise ships and 70 thousand people in conventions.”

As the head of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, Tostenson is also expressing frustration Vancouver’s the only major city in North America without Uber or Lyft.

“It’s not that complicated, but I think the government needs to be reassuring the public and the taxi industry that it did a thorough review of everything and they thought about it and that’s their best defence is that they weren’t reckless, but I think, in practise, we can try to make that shorter…. By Christmas or is it going to be in 2019? The Ride Sharing Now coalition is going to try to work with government to get it sooner than later. This is all part of a progressive society and no one’s going to get hurt. We’re all going to work together. Maybe we can make that time limit a little bit faster.”

Green Party ‘disappointed’ with delayed ride-hailing

The BC Greens are once again expressing their disappointment that the availability of ride-hailing services has been delayed — again.

However, Adam Olsen says in a statement that the party is pleased the government “has committed to a path forward.”

“In our view, a better approach would be to modernize the taxi industry concurrently with bringing in ride-hailing, however, it is encouraging that the initial legislative steps to enable ride-hailing will be before the House this Fall. There has been a lot of broken promises on this issue.”

He adds Trevena “needs to meet the goal of accepting applications by Fall 2019.”

Olsen adds Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver has been urging the province to address “disruptive technological change” associated with ride-hailing, and claims he’s kept the pressure on government.

Our caucus is incredibly disappointed that British Columbians will still have fewer transportation options than every other city in North America this winter. My full statement #BCpoli pic.twitter.com/gjqrxv0hgv — Adam Olsen (@AdamPOlsen) July 19, 2018

Taxi industry insists it welcomes the competition

Mohan Kang, president of the BC Taxi Association, admits the cab industry has to get more competitive as ride-hailing comes closer to reality in BC.

He says one way would be to offer one app for all of BC’s taxi companies – instead of different apps representing each city.

“We want one app for BC because most companies have their own app,” he says

And he admires the fact ride-hailing companies can use the closest car to pick up passengers. Currently, there are set boundaries for BC cabs. They can bring passengers into a different city, but must return to their home cities empty – something he considers wasteful.

He does say the proposal to increase the number of cabs in the province should improve customer service.

As for the perception that it’s the taxi industry that has put pressure on the province to delay ride-hailing in the province?

“The BC Taxi Association has said Uber or any other Technology Networking Companies are welcome, as far as we are concerned, provided they meet the safety standards an there’s an even playing field.”

If there’s a will, there will be Uber in B.C.

Uber’s general manager of cities for Western Canada, Michael van Hemmen, is still expecting approval by the end of this year.

“Let’s get it all done this fall. Let’s get ride-sharing on the road before Christmas. We’re 100 per cent committed to bringing our mobility options to serve the people in Vancouver and across the province,” he says.

Saying a quarter million British Columbians have used Uber elsewhere in the world, van Hemmen is also reporting nine out of 10 people in Metro Vancouver strongly support services like Uber and Lyft.

“More than half a million British Columbians and visitors have opened the Uber app in B.C. trying to find a ride,” he says. “We hear frustration every day from people who want to have the same access to transportation options in Vancouver that are available in every other major city in North America and we want to work with the government to make that happen as well.”

Van Hemmen’s also vowing to keep working with Premier John Horgan and Transportation Minister Claire Trevena to make ride-hailing a reality soon.

“If legislation can be passed this fall, which the government has committed to, we’re confident that we can work with them as quickly as possible to ensure that cars get on the road before Christmas.