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The City of Vancouver wants to explore tacking “mobility fees” onto trips with services like Uber and Lyft when ride-hailing arrives in B.C.

The idea, outlined in a staff presentation to Vancouver council on Tuesday, would be to tack an extra charge on to ride-hailing trips, in addition to other taxes and on top of what companies charge their passengers. The charge is intended to target high-traffic areas and peak travel times as a way of fighting congestion, particularly downtown.

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Metro Vancouver has long been North America’s largest urban area without services in which passengers use smartphones to book car trips through companies like Uber and Lyft. But the B.C. NDP has told British Columbians they should be able to use ride-hailing services by this fall.

First, though, the regulations to govern ride-hailing need to be hammered out.Vancouver city staff will make submissions in late January to the provincial committee studying the proposed ride-hailing legislation. This week, senior staff is asking council to guide their input to the province. Council is expected to discuss the issue and vote on Wednesday.