Brampton council calls for halt to Uber in city

torontosun.com
Feb. 24, 2016
By Kevin Connor

Brampton city council has called for a temporary suspension of ridesharing operations like Uber while it establishes new rules to govern the services.

On Wednesday, council unanimously decided it was time to clamp down on Uber and seek legal advice on how to deal with such companies.

However, it’s unclear whether Uber will abide with council’s call to cease operations - and what will happen if it refuses.

“This is a victory for the residents of Brampton,” Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon insisted.

“This decision is a first good step to guarantee the public’s safety and security, while maintaining fairness. There will be a thorough public consultation process with all stakeholders where a fair, regulated and competitive environment will be created.”

The city will work with senior levels of government to establish new rules for ridesharing, Mayor Linda Jeffrey said.

She called on Queen’s Park and Ottawa to provide cities the power needed to ban or regulate ridesharing companies.

“We need to find the right law and now we have a pause to evaluate how to proceed,” Jeffrey said, adding there is no time frame for the city to establish a concrete bylaw regarding ridesharing.

“We are concerned with public safety and want a fair playing field so (Uber drivers) have sufficient insurance and police checks.”

The Toronto Taxi Alliance applauded Brampton council for supporting the “legal taxi industry.”

The TTA maintains fares collected by Uber aren’t reinvested in the communities where they operate.

“Illegal bandit cabs such as UberX take advantage of city infrastructure and services while contributing nothing to its tax base,” argued TTA lawyer Harvey Spiegel.

Uber officials didn’t say if their drivers will go along with Brampton council’s demand to stop picking up customers in the city.

“We’ve been working with officials in Brampton and across Canada to update rules for ridesharing, including in Edmonton, which just last month became the first jurisdiction in Canada to pass new regulations,” Uber spokesman Susie Heath said in a release.

“We look forward to continuing our work with officials in Brampton to modernize regulations to encourage innovation, put people first and create safe, reliable and affordable transportation options.”