Surrey doesn't currently have a licence ride-hailing operators can apply for in the city

Some Surrey residents share stories of endless frustration with taxis as more Uber drivers fined in the city

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – The long-awaited arrival of ride-hailing so far hasn’t made getting around any easier in Surrey, and some are pointing fingers directly at the mayor.

Miles Griffiths, who works at a pub in Surrey, took to Facebook to last month to say he would love to invite Mayor Doug McCallum to “see how awful our system really is here.”

“I would love to invite Mayor Doug McCallum to my bar on a Friday or Saturday night and have me call him a taxi after 10pm so he can see how awful our system really is here,” Griffiths wrote. “Better yet, I hope he needs 2 or 3 taxis for his table. The taxi companies here refuse to send multiple taxis at night.”

He said he’s often on hold with cab companies for more than five minutes, “as drinks continue to get rung in and customers neglected, only to get hung up on.” In some cases, Griffiths apparently resorts to driving customers home himself.

“The amount of time spent waiting for taxis to pick up customers after hours or the time spent driving home customers were comfortable with is way too much,” he added.

Griffiths said if taxi companies are concerned about the impacts ride-hailing will have on their business, “maybe they should focus their attention on improving the quality of the product provided.”

“Evolve or join Blockbuster,” he wrote.



Meanwhile, a petition is circulating online, asking people to sign in order to force the mayor to allow Uber and Lyft to operate in Surrey.

The petition quotes McCallum as saying, “What continues to be my chief concern is the unfair advantage that has been created without any regard as to how it will impact those who are employed in the taxi industry. It is no secret that a large percentage of cab drivers live in Surrey and the modest wages they earn go to support their families. As residents and as my constituents, it is my duty to do what I can to ensure that these jobs are not lost due to an unfair advantage that has been arbitrarily put in place.”

Those behind the petition said they were “appalled” by his statement, and list a number of concerns with the local taxi industry.

“If you have ever taken a taxi in Surrey, let alone anywhere else in the lower mainland, you know that it is not only difficult and frustrating to get a taxi, but also expensive to go from A-B,” the petition reads, adding public transit doesn’t cover most of the city, unless you “live somewhere semi-populated.”

This comes as the City of Surrey continues to be tangled in a battle with ride-hailing giant Uber. Bylaw officers had been instructed to hand drivers $500 tickets for operating in the city without a licence — which doesn’t currently exist for ride-hailing — while Uber has told its people not to pay the fines.

Councillor Brenda Locke said she hopes a B.C. Supreme Court injunction, filed by Uber, coming down this week will end the ticketing.

“And then the City of Surrey can get on with other things than worrying about Uber,” she told NEWS 1130. “That’s going to be coming anyway, it’s provincial, and the public in Surrey absolutely want it.”

The order would force the city to stop ticketing drivers. If an injunction doesn’t do the trick, Locke said she hopes council will be able to put an end to the situation at a meeting next week.

“I think the ticketing is absolutely harsh and I don’t know why we’re doing it in Surrey,” she said. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

The provincial government has said no city has the power to block ride-hailing.

-With files from Tarnjit Parmar and Amanda Wawryk