Metro Vancouver mayors have voted to fast track implementing a regional business licence for ride hailing in the New Year 鈥� with only 性视界传媒 Mayor Doug McCallum opposed.
McCallum was the lone vote against the motion during a Dec. 12 Mayor鈥檚 Council meeting at TransLink鈥檚 headquarters in New Westminster.
鈥淎 large majority of our residents do not support ride hailing in 性视界传媒, basically because it is not a level playing field between ride-hailing and taxis,鈥� McCallum said ahead of the vote, pointing to caps on the number of taxi vehicles allowed.
Earlier this fall, McCallum told a crowd of taxi drivers he intended to deny business licences to such operators.
It鈥檚 an idea that 性视界传媒 First Councillor Linda Annis called 鈥渞idiculous鈥� at the time, adding that the mayor should be 鈥渨orking for 性视界传媒 residents, not (a) handful of taxi owners.鈥�
A Mainstreet Research study released in July suggested a 鈥渟trong majority of 性视界传媒 residents鈥� support ridesharing options such as Lyft and Uber.
鈥�78% of 性视界传媒 residents think that ridesharing should be a transportation option available to residents of Metro Vancouver, with a majority strongly believing that this should be the case,鈥� said Joseph Angolano, Vice President of Mainstreet Research, of the study that surveyed 726 性视界传媒 residents. 鈥淪imilarly, we found that most 性视界传媒 residents think that the British Columbia government should implement ridesharing as soon as possible.鈥�
ALSO READ: 性视界传媒 councillor slams mayor鈥檚 vow to deny ride-hailing licenses
Shortly after the Dec. 12 decision, 性视界传媒 Board of Trade voiced its support for the decision.
鈥溞允咏绱� needs ride hailing and transportation options in the face of continued delays for transit infrastructure. This is a step in the right direction for ride hailing implementation across Metro Vancouver,鈥� said Anita Huberman, SBOT CEO, in a release. 鈥淭he 性视界传媒 Board of Trade is pleased with today鈥檚 Mayor鈥檚 Council vote in favour of innovation and facts.鈥�
Ride hailing is anticipated to hit roadways in the region as early as the end of the month, according to the B.C. government, and function as a zone-by-zone model across the province with each city being responsible for developing a licensing model how officials see fit.
Twenty-one cities in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Sunshine Coast are all considered part of Zone 1.
Over the past few months, individual cities have been grappling with how best to implement business licensing fees and other costs to ride-hailing companies. Factors include keeping safety at the forefront while also ensuring an equal playing field to taxi companies.
Councillors in Burnaby passed a motion this week, green-lighting a $510-per-driver fee and other various annual fees. Vancouver has passed a $100-per-driver fee.
But advocates for ride-hailing have criticized this approach, noting that these fees will not be taken on by the companies 鈥� similar to taxi companies 鈥� and instead be placed on drivers. Individual licenses will dissuade drivers from offering up their services in each city equally, ride-hailing supporters have argued.
In Coquitlam, city officials have passed an inter-municipal business license with Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, similar to what the three cities use for mobile businesses.
鈥淭his is a natural extension to the existing mobile business license structure to allow companies or people that do business in other municipalities so they don鈥檛 have to take a license out in each one,鈥� explained Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to see the region do this with lots of other mobile businesses.鈥�
TransLink vice-president Geoff Cross told the mayors that the province has said it will take over the process of implementing licenses from municipalities. The goal is to have an interim license model in place by Jan. 31 and a full set of rules by the end of 2020.
鈥淭his is a defining moment, we come here to try to collaborate and I do believe we have the opportunity to do it. Citizens I think are in vast support of ride-hailing, particularly for my community in Pitt Meadows,鈥� Mayor Bill Dingwall said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a lot of other options, including taxis, and so this provides those options. What it does is help to increase our citizens confidence in TransLink, in this board and in the mayors that sit around it that we have their best interests in mind.鈥�
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
Like us on and follow us on .
