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Calgary
Vancouver
The Dashboard
16
/ Canadian Government Executive
// May 2016
Protests by irate taxi drivers, roadside scuffles
involving cabbies and Uber drivers, as well as
heated arguments mark the news coverage
concerning the discussion around ride sharing and
the traditional taxi business.
The introduction of the ride sharing model is also
disrupting legacy municipal transportation policies
across Canada:
Edmonton
Uber is legal in Edmonton, but as of early April, Uber
drivers are off the road because they are unable to se-
cure the required insurance
•City regulations require Uber to pay $70,000 per year.
•Council also bumped up everyone’s base fare to $3.25.
•Uber drivers are prohibited from accepting passengers
hailed on the street.
•Uber drivers need to get commercial insurance. The
insurance will not be available until this summer, so
Uber had to suspend operations in the city.
Vancouver
British Columbia’s provincial government appears
resigned to the eventual presence of ride sharing in
Vancouver, saying it’s a matter of when not if.
Vancouver councillors, however, raised some
concerns about Uber, including requiring background
checks for drivers.
Calgary
Uber ceased operations in Calgary in February, because
the firm “just can’t operate” in the city due to new city
bylaws:
•Calgary’s rules limit Uber to transporting customers
acquired through its mobile app
•Street hails are exclusive to taxi, stand pickups and
phone dispatches are exclusively for taxi drivers
•Uber drivers have to pay a $220 per year licensing fee
and submit to more stringent background checks.
How Uber is driving change in Canadian municipalities
Uber worries::
• Most Canadians (57%) agree with the statement “I don’t
feel comfortable with Uber raising prices during peak
hours” – a practice traditional taxi companies are
prohibited from doing.
• Two-in-five Canadians (39%) worry that “Uber will make
working conditions worse for their own drivers and for taxi
drivers” (26% disagree with this statement; and 35% are
unsure).