Uber gets first transit partnership in Canada

KelownaNow.com
Liz Hostland
May 19, 2017

This week, the Town of Innisfil launched Canada's first ridesharing-transit partnership.

It's the first town in Canada to make Uber the main mode of transportation.

Mayor Gordon Wauchope of Innisfil was the first to take an Uber ride on Monday.

"We are excited to launch this new solution to provide our residents with safe, accessible and reliable transportation," stated Gord Wauchope, Mayor of Innisfil. “Rather than place a bus on the road to serve just a few residents, we are moving ahead with a better service that can transport people from all across our town to wherever they need to go,” he said.

Transit in the small town of 36,000 has been a big issue for many years. Innisfil is a growing bedroom community to commuters working in both Barrie and Toronto.

"It's a small town but our growth is just crazy fast," said Johnny Keogh, communications coordinator for the town of Innisfil.

When council looked at getting one public bus, the cost for the first year was estimated at $272,000. After that, it would cost $168,000 for maintenance every year.

Purchasing two buses would cost $600,000 for the first year, with yearly maintenance costs of $300,000.

Town staff were asked to find an alternative transit option with a cheaper price tag.

What they came back to council with was certainly unconventional, but it was approved and the mode of transportation came through Uber.

"We do find that these fares are pretty competitive," said Keogh. "They are much lower than what the average resident could expect to pay in a taxi for sure."

The town estimates the first six to nine months of Uber transit to cost about $100,000.

Council has set up four main hubs in the town of Innisfil where a return trip will cost residents between $3 to $5.

The main hubs include, the local GO Bus Station, the Recreation Centre, the Town Hall and the Employment hub.

Outside of those four areas, the Town of Innisfil will subsidize trips for users of Uber by taking $5 off any trip.

"If you go somewhere else, like if you go to the local mall, well you pay whatever the fare is and you save $5 on that," said Keogh. "So it could be $15 and you save $5 and pay $10 and we would pay that subsidy."

"I think we're definitely of the mind that we are the guinea pig in this and we're kind of happy to eventually share what we learned from this with everyone," said Keogh.

For the next few months, the town will be looking at the data and determining whether or not they need to change the hubs, based on the amount of users.

"If we ever go the route of - because we're growing - of a traditional bus, we're going to have the actual data that says 'where do people want to go," he said.

As far as when Kelowna will expect to see alternative transit like Uber, the City is still waiting for the Province's decision to come down.

"We’re waiting for the province to establish its position on Uber," said Tom Wilson, communications for the City of Kelowna. "Generally, the City is in favour of giving people more options to get rides when they need them, but the City wants a fair, safe system under guidelines established province-wide."

“Uber is making it easier for Innisfil residents to get around town and connect to local transit while saving town taxpayers’ money,” stated Sheldon McCormick, Uber Ontario General Manager.

“We were thrilled when the Town of Innisfil approached us last year looking for a modern transportation alternative," she said.

Uber Canada was co-founded by Canadian entrepreneur, Garrett Camp, in 2009.

Uber Canada operates in more than 40 communities in Canada and offers employment for more than 20,000 Canadian drivers.