Vehicle for hire bylaw passes third reading, ride-sharing companies will be legal in Edmonton

cjob.com
Jan. 27, 2016
Kirby Bourne

Edmonton has become the first city in Canada to legalise ride-sharing apps like Uber.

The vehicle for hire bylaw passed eight to four Wednesday afternoon, with councillors Tony Caterina, Dave Loken, Bryan Anderson, and Mike Nickel voting against it.

Only traditional taxis will be allowed to pick up at taxi stands, arrange a trip by phone, or be hailed on the street. In those three circumstances, the fares would be regulated by the bylaw. Ride-sharing drivers can only pick fares up via an app, and if you use an app to arrange a taxi or a ride-share pick up, that fare isn’t regulated.

City administration says they will begin enforcing the bylaw as soon as it comes into effect on March 1, 2016. No vehicle for hire will be allowed to operate without provincially-approved commercial insurance. That gives the province just over one month to sort out the insurance offerings.

After the decision, Uber General Manager for Alberta, Ramit Kar, released the following statement:

“Uber applauds the City of Edmonton for its leadership in being the first Canadian jurisdiction to adopt progressive regulations that embrace ridesharing. We thank Mayor Iveson, Councillors and City staff for supporting Edmontonian riders and drivers who want more affordable and reliable transportation options. While these newly adopted regulations contain concessions for ridesharing service providers, the rules put in place a workable regulatory approach. The spirit of collaboration and willpower demonstrated by the City of Edmonton to modernize its transportation laws can serve as a model for all Canadian regulators and elected officials.”

On the other side of the debate is Pascal Ryffel, a spokesperson for Driving for Equality, a group that represents hundreds of taxi drivers in Edmonton. In a release Ryffel expressed his displeasure with the decision.

“This bylaw is essentially exactly what Uber has asked for since the beginning,” Ryffell writes. “Perhaps the only positive news from City Council today is that the enforcement date has been moved up to March 1st. “We fully expect the city to finally crack down on Uber if they are still operating without the minimum requirements, such as drivers with class four licenses and provincially mandated insurance,” said Ryffel. “There will be no more excuses to turn a blind eye to Uber’s illegal activity.”

Mayor Don Iveson says the bylaw is a result of demand for more choice in the industry, telling Global News the requirement for proper insurance gives the city more legal ground to charge offenders.

“We’ve been unequivocal, since the get-go, you have to have legit insurance to do business in the City of Edmonton as a matter of public safety and our bylaw explicitly requires that; and this new bylaw will be more rigorously enforceable then our previous bylaw,” explained Iveson.

Yellow Cab’s Phil Strong tells Global News they’ll now have to figure out how they’re going to deal with a new playing field.

“We have to get together as a management team, and as an industry, and determine that,” remarked Strong. “But it’s going to be difficult — let’s not kid ourselves. Especially, again, as I said, predatory pricing is a huge issue.”