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A majority of Vancouver residents believe people wanting to drive for Uber, Lyft or other ride-hailing services should require a Class 4 driver’s licence that requires more training, a Research Co. poll has found.

The NDP government introduced legislation last week to allow ride hailing companies to operate in B.C., likely by the fall of 2019.

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The legislation, which would require all ride-hailing drivers to possess a Class 4 commercial licence and undergo mandatory criminal record checks, is seen as among the most restrictive in North America.

In the Research Co.’s online survey, 57 per cent of Metro Vancouverites said they were in favour of only allowing drivers with a commercial licencew to operate for a ride-hailing service.

According to the poll, nearly half of Metro Vancouverites (49 per cent) believe next fall is also reasonable timeline to implement ride-sharing in B.C., because it takes time to review the effect of ride-hailing on existing transportation options.

However, 42 per cent of respondents believe the province should fast-track the legislation and introduce ride-hailing to B.C. sooner.

Two thirds of respondents (66 per cent) said they want provincial government to cap the number of ride-hailing drivers to reduce traffic congestion.

The survey of 700 adults was conducted Nov. 24-25. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.