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When it comes to ride sharing in Calgary, 2015 comes to an end much as 2014 did: with city council still unable to regulate such services, and Calgarians still unable to access them.

There was, briefly, a period in which the Uber ride-sharing service was available in Calgary, and it didn’t even require city council to do anything. Uber simply launched its app and thousands of Calgarians downloaded it. In another setting, the arrival of supply to meet pent-up demand would be a happy ending. Not when it comes to ride sharing, however.

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The city’s response to Uber’s arrival was to try to shut it down as quickly as possible. Uber drivers were targeted in undercover stings and the city went to court, eventually obtaining an injunction against Uber. For its part, Uber relented, suspending its service and agreeing to work with the city to develop a new framework for ride-sharing services.

Unfortunately, “developing a framework” seems to have become code for “dragging our feet” and “trying to appease the taxi industry.” If the end game is to replace our antiquated livery bylaw, then aggressively enforcing it was an odd place to start. If council believes ride sharing should be available to Calgarians, then this really shouldn’t be difficult.