In recent years, it has become apparent that the Taxicab Board of Manitoba is not doing its job. If it were, we wouldn't have articles like this, or this, or this ... or the many others that have been regularly written over the years.

This is a public safety issue!

Cabbies are being attacked, cabbies are attacking riders, and there is a growing issue in that cabbies don't want to pick up people in certain areas of the Province. If only there were some technology out there that could solve the problem. Oh wait, there is! It's called ride sharing.

I have used Uber and Lyft many times in my travels. In fact, when I am in any other city, this is my preferred mode of transportation. Why? Well, let me explain:

Drivers are rated and could lose their "job" if they don't perform well. Here's the US regulations.

Passengers are rated and could lose their right to use the service. Here is an article about that.

You can track your cab as a paying customer, and you'll know exactly where your driver is.

Cleaner cars.

Shorter wait times.

You can share your ride with friends and family.

No cash changing hands.

For more Uber features, click here. There's also opportunities in the industry. It would be nice if all taxicabs and ride sharing services required dash cams facing in.

This petition is to get the government of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg to allow Uber and other ride sharing services OR to institute a mandatory system similar to ride sharing for all taxicab companies in a reasonable amount of time (less than 12 months). There are programmers that can make it happen in half a year.

The Taxicab Board has more power in Manitoba than people realize, so I'm thinking that the latter would be more realistic. So, how would that work?

The Government of Manitoba, under Brian Pallister would make it illegal to operate a taxicab service by October 2017 without using their program.

The Government would then take 30-days to accept RFPs from developers in Manitoba.

They would award the work on the project to the winning proponent, who would work on a strict schedule to get the app completed on time. By on time, I mean, ahead of schedule.

Each taxicab company would need to register for the app, and have their drivers on the system.

Taxicabs couldn't be hired outside of the app.

If the Government of Manitoba does not want to take on that expense, then they need to let ride sharing happen in our Province. Taxicab companies refuse to adapt to the changing times, and as such they will either get their act together, or go the way of the horse and buggy.

And yes, I am aware that neither system is perfect, however either steps would be a huge leap forward for our safety and for a better experience.