Vaughan moving to regulate Uber, other ridesharing firms
New regulations expected to come into effect in October
yorkregion.com
June 7, 2017
By Adam Martin-Robbins
Vaughan is heading down the road travelled by several other cities by rolling out new rules for Uber and other ridesharing services that pick up passengers within city limits.
Council, June 6, gave city staff the green light to implement regulations and licensing fees for ridesharing services - such as Uber, Lyft and Curb - aimed at increasing public safety, protecting vulnerable consumers and fostering “effective, economical” transportation options.
The new rules, expected to be in place by October, include the following:
- Drivers must undergo a criminal-background check and provide a driver’s abstract, annually;
- Drivers can only pick up passengers who’ve pre-arranged a ride through an app or other method, they can’t pick up people on the street trying to hail a taxi;
- Vehicles must 10 years old or younger, but that can be extended to 12 years subject to an annual inspection;
- Vehicle owners must have commercial insurance and submit an Ontario Safety Certificate annually;
- Vehicles must be equipped with an identifying decal or hanging tag displayed while in service.
As for licensing fees, ridesharing companies will pay a flat fee based on the size of their fleet plus a per ride fee of 11 cents.
Similar rules have been adopted by municipalities across Ontario including Barrie, Innisfil, London, Mississauga, Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo Region.
In an effort to try and level the playing field, Vaughan also plans to change the current bylaw regulating taxi cab and limousine companies.
Those changes include: taxi cab owners no longer have to belong to a brokerage; taxis and limos can set their own fare rates, but must file them with the city and owner plates will be made available to taxi cab drivers who have at least a five years working as a licensed operator in Vaughan.
City staff intend to review the regulations within two years to see if any changes are needed, according to Rudi Czekalla-Martinez, Vaughan’s manager of policy and business planning.
The regulations are expected to boost the revenue Vaughan gets from licensing the industry to $189,000 this year and as much as $260,000 by 2018, up from $142,000 in 2016.
