Count the Mayor of Surrey, Doug McCallum, as one person who isn’t happy that Uber is coming to Metro Vancouver.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company made the announcement earlier this week, less than a week before the British Columbia Transportation Board is set to begin accepting applications.
“My position has remained consistent for years: I do not support ride-hailing”, Mayor McCallum said in an official statement.
McCallum’s concern lies with the “unlevel playing field” he believes ride-hailing companies would create. He cities boundary-related limits, as well as fleet size restrictions, as reasons.
In a 2018 report to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure about modernizing taxi regulation, Hara Associates Inc. allude to this boundary limit as one that:
“Allow taxis to drop fares outside their home operating areas, and to return the same passenger back to the home operating area when the return trip is pre-arranged. The return trip can potentially be prohibited by municipal regulation.”
In addition, current regulations also cap fleet sizes and fleet-size expansions, often resulting in complaints about taxi shortages.
Meanwhile, Uber, as well as Lyft, who also announced that they’ll be coming to Vancouver, will have no such boundary and fleet-size restrictions.
In the statement, Surrey Mayor McCallum said that he has sent a letter to B.C. Premier John Horgan, raising his concerns with Uber and Lyft, and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be backing down.
“[I] will continue to advocate for the taxi industry.”
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