Call it Toronto’s Uber-mess.

The city’s taxi industry is determined to run app-based Uber off the road. But the upstart service has no intention of leaving, with about 15,000 local drivers now carrying passengers in unmarked, private cars instead of cabs. It’s popular and growing while taxi operators are angry and increasingly desperate.

That’s a potentially explosive combination — one that needs to be defused this year.

Violence has erupted in other places, including cabbies burning cars in Paris and vandalizing vehicles in Mexico City. Toronto’s municipal leaders have stalled instead of finding an effective compromise. Confused rules, botched enforcement and political indecision have combined to bring deadlock to city hall and disruption to downtown streets.

An ill-judged protest in mid-December had taxis blocking rush hour traffic, fueling rage among cabbies and frustrated commuters alike. A police officer received minor injuries after being hit by a slow-moving taxi; at least one ambulance was slowed; and an irate cab driver was caught on video hanging on to someone’s car as it drove away.

It’s essential to calm these tensions before someone is seriously hurt. Unfortunately, there’s no easy app for that.

City staff have tried, notably with a remarkable plan that would have imposed new regulations on Uber and lifted some of the restrictions burdening the traditional taxi industry. The goal was to arrive at a place where both sides claim they want to be: at a level playing field.

Rather than endorsing that initiative last fall, city council eased up on the taxi industry but balked at balanced regulations that would have allowed the popular UberX service to operate.

Council instructed staff members to study the matter some more and report back in the new year. They’re doing so, but they’re unlikely to propose regulations that are radically different from what’s already been suggested.

Their original, step-by-step package of reforms makes a great deal of sense. Recognizing the importance of having Uber drivers covered by appropriate insurance, these proposals called for the city to contact the province’s insurance industry regulator to see if relevant policies were available.

Once the Financial Services Commission of Ontario issued a green light, staff would be in a position to set insurance requirements and draft other regulations covering “transportation network companies” like Uber.

These regulations would centre on consumer protection, requiring such companies to conduct criminal record checks of their drivers, perform mechanical inspections, and maintain compliance records the way taxi and limousine operators do. Transportation network companies would also have to pay the city a licencing fee to cover the cost of administering and policing this system.

If all that were in place, taxi drivers couldn’t reasonably claim that Uber was getting a free ride in Toronto — operating without paying the costs and shouldering the responsibilities that come with obeying municipal rules.

It would also help if regulations covering the taxi industry were relaxed even further. City council has already shaved one dollar off a cab’s initial pick-up fee, trimming the cost to $3.25. And it voted in favour of easing red tape and streamlining the inspection process.

Another measure worth considering would be to allow cabbies to set fares in a more flexible manner, including opting for adjustable charges that rise and fall according to demand. That’s how Uber operates, offering lower fares in general than a conventional cab but charging much more if a rainstorm, for example, increases calls for its service.

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Finding a middle way — giving conventional taxis a break while imposing suitable regulations on Uber — seems the best hope for dialing down tensions and moving forward on this contentious issue. City council should make this a key priority in the coming year.

More dithering and indecision might take this city where it doesn’t want to go: a place where chaos rules and everyone suffers in an out-of-control confrontation between the old and the new.

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