Uber has announced plans to come to Winnipeg later this spring as soon as the popular ride-hailing service gets enough drivers lined up for when the service goes live.

“Tens of thousands of Winnipeggers have signed up to ride and tourists are always lining up at the airport and they all want the same options that are available everywhere else across Canada and over 900 cities around the world,” said Uber spokesperson Michael van Hemmen.

Distroscale

Uber drivers will be required to obtain additional insurance under Manitoba Public Insurance’s Passenger Vehicle for Hire coverage which offers individual packages that cover drivers during four separate time periods — weekdays, rush hour, overnight, and weekends — or drivers can purchase all four, and be covered 24/7, for around $200 a year, paid on top of their regular premiums.

“We do believe that the current model is fair, equitable and flexible enough to accommodate different regulatory frameworks that may be created by municipalities; however we will continue to review and evolve where necessary to support the needs of our customers and partners,” said MPI spokesman Brian Smiley in an email.

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“We’ve come to a workable solution with MPI so drivers will have to get MPI’s existing ridesharing insurance while Uber will purchase additional private insurance,” said van Hemmen. “It’s not our preference but it will work. We will continue to engage with MPI to highlight the benefits of creating ridesharing insurance that Uber could purchase directly from MPI similar to other public insurers have done in Saskatchewan and B.C.

“The model and arrangement that we have arrived at with them is workable and so we’re really excited about launching later this spring and getting going. If more improvements can be made, we’ll continue to look at that down the road.”

Uber spokesperson Michael van Hemmen. HandoutThere are currently six ride-hailing services being offered in Winnipeg. Manitoba passed ridesharing legislation in 2017.

Drivers can sign up starting Tuesday need to have a clean driving record, a valid provincial class 5 license and complete a criminal records check and a vehicle inspection.

“Once that’s all ready and you’ve got your vehicle inspection done, you can then be ready to go for the app when it’s ready to launch,” said van Hemmen.

gdawkins@postmedia.com

Twitter: @SunGlenDawkins