Uber talking to City of Calgary officials about possible re-launch
CalgarySun.com
Nov. 16, 2016
Annalise Klingbeil
Rideshare giant Uber is gearing up to re-launch in Calgary, if changes to the existing rideshare bylaw are passed by city council later this month.
Ramit Kar, the Western Canada general manager at Uber, spoke with Postmedia’s Annalise Klingbeil, about ongoing meetings with city councillors, what happens if the bylaw isn’t amended, and expanding to Airdrie, Lethbridge and Red Deer.
Q: So, the bylaw amendments that Uber has said would enable Uber to operate in Calgary will be discussed by an advisory committee this Friday, then go to council for approval. What has Uber been doing while waiting for the bylaw changes to go to council?
A: We’ve been continuing dialogue with councillors as well as administration to really let them know that hey, these changes, if adopted, will help us come back to the city. On top of that, what we’re doing (Thursday) is sending an (e-mail) message to the 100,000 Calgarians who’ve signed up for Uber, in some shape or form, and telling them if these changes do get adopted, we’re going to be able to come back to town.
Q: How have the meetings with councillors been going?
A: In our discussions to date, it’s been positive. We obviously don’t know 100% how things are going to go, but from a lot of councillors we’ve been talking to, they’ve been very receptive.
Q: Have you met with the mayor or members of his staff?
A: We’ve actually been actively working with the mayor’s staff as well as councillors and admin for the better part of two years now. So, it’s actually never potentially stopped that discussion. We’ve always been in constant talks.
Q: How confident are you that city council will approve the bylaw amendments?
A: Obviously I don’t want to presuppose anything. I don’t know what the exact probability would be per say. But, based on the discussions that we’ve been having with councillors, as well as all the Calgarians that have signed up to be drivers, as well as riders, I think it’s the right decision.
Q: If the bylaw amendments go to council at the end of November, and they’re passed — I know that’s lots of ifs — how soon could Uber operate in Calgary?
A: Hypothetically, if that were to happen, we could be starting you know, days after that kind of thing. Hopefully early December, but we’re excited if it’s sooner too.
Q: What are the steps drivers have to take to work in Calgary, and do you have enough drivers signed up?
A: We’ve had droves of drivers come in and say, ‘I want this as an earning opportunity.’ For the last few months, we’ve been holding onboarding sessions where people can bring in the documents, we take them through the process on what needs to be done to get ready to be on the road as soon as the bylaw changes. The interest has been very high and we expect right after we launch that interest will just skyrocket even more.
Q: What happens if the amendments aren’t passed?
A: Hopefully we’ll continue to advocate to get the right changes done, the same thing we’ve been doing for the last two years. I’m hopeful that doesn’t come to bear. I’m cautiously optimistic and I’m hopeful we’ll get there.
Q: I understand the City of Airdrie recently decided to rely on the province’s ridesharing regulations, instead of creating new ridesharing requirements. Are you planning to launch in Airdrie?
A: That was a very positive sign what Airdrie did. We do always want to serve more Albertans and Airdrie specifically is on that list. I don’t have a specific date on when we’re going to be in Airdire, but I do hope to serve them as soon as possible.
Q: So you’re in Edmonton, possibly Calgary within a matter of weeks, maybe Airdrie. Do you have other Alberta cities on the list?
A: We literally do want to be everywhere. We’ve been in conversations with Lethbridge, we’ve been in conversations with Red Deer and early conversations with other cities as well. We really do want to be everywhere. With time, hopefully, that will come but the big two would be Edmonton and Calgary first.
