The future of the City of Ottawa’s bylaw regulating ride companies like Uber and Lyft rests in the hands of a Superior Court judge.

Justice Maria Linhares de Sousa reserved her decision Thursday on an application by the taxi union to quash the vehicle-for-hire bylaw and reinstate the former taxi-only licensing regime. The judge didn’t say when she would release her decision.

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The taxi union’s lawyer, Monica Song, capped off four days of argument by replying to the case presented by the city’s lawyer, Benoit Duchesne.

Song hammered her point that city staff didn’t consider the economic impact to cabbies by creating a new licence category for private transportation companies (PTCs) with “irrational exemptions,” compared to the rules for the taxi industry. She said it was inexplicable that a staff report recommending the bylaw changes says the city was unable to consider disruptive influences affecting an industry that city hall regulates.

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Near the end of her arguments, Song left the judge with one final point: “This is not about plate values.”

Cabbies have reported decreased values of their city-owned taxi plates since the arrival of Uber in Ottawa. The plates can be traded for money on a secondary market.

But Song has argued that the taxi union’s problem is with the dual-licensing system and how council came to approving the new regime.

Song argued that council members didn’t have enough information to make a decision on reconstructing the ride-ordering bylaw, particularly when it came to the potential impact to cabbies’ livelihoods.

On the other hand, as the judge pointed out, consultants’ reports used by city staff to craft the final report to council were always available to politicians. And, as the city has argued, staff didn’t ignore a report by KPMG, who the city hired to research the ride industry and make recommendations for a new bylaw. The public was brought into the process early by being invited to offer feedback on white papers written by consultants on the ride industry.

The vehicle-for-hire bylaw has been in place since Sept. 30, 2016. Uber has been operating legally in Ottawa since October 2016. Lyft has applied for a PTC licence but hasn’t said when it plans to start operating in the capital. Two other smaller PTCs, Teslift and ecoRIDES, are also licensed by the city.

The judge asked the lawyers to sort out how legal costs might be awarded when she delivers a decision. The city hired external lawyers for the hearing.