City gives Uber, Lyft the green light early next year

WinnipegSun.com
Dec. 13, 2017
Joyanne Pursaga

Uber and Lyft will be allowed to move into Winnipeg in just a few months.

After weeks of heated debate, Winnipeg City Council voted 10 to 6 to approve a controversial vehicle-for-hire bylaw on Wednesday, with councillors Janice Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert), Ross Eadie (Mynaski), Russ Wyatt (Transcona), Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan), Shawn Dobson (St. Charles) and Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) opposed.

That means ride-hailing companies will be able to operate in Winnipeg as soon as March 1.

Mayor Brian Bowman remains convinced there’s local demand for the new transportation option and Winnipeggers deserve to have that choice.

“I think that citizens are well served when government allows them to make choices for themselves,” said Bowman.

But critics of the bylaw argued its requirement for taxis to install driver shields, strobe lights and cameras, but not ride-share vehicles, will put some drivers and passengers at risk. And they argue the planned tripling of annual taxi licensing fees in 2018 (from $200 to $600 per vehicle) will hurt their bottom lines just as the new competition arrives.

The debate proved intense right to the end, including a Dec. 12 Sikh Society of Manitoba letter that alleged the “rushed” bylaw process “disvalued” Sikh members of the taxi industry.

“We feel that by disvaluing the entire industry, you also disvalue the Sikh community and other minority groups,” wrote society president Sukhdev Singh Brar.

By contrast, the mayor questioned some lobbying tactics of the taxi industry.

“I can’t think of another debate we’ve had where I’ve been...subject to such aggressive lobbying, intimidation and threats,” he said.

The city did pass several amendments to its original Dec. 1 bylaw proposal, including a three-cent-per-ride safety surcharge imposed solely on ride-share vehicles, a pilot project that will allow taxis full access to diamond lanes for one year and the removal of a 20-year limit on the re-sale of taxi licenses.

But a taxi industry spokesperson remains concerned.

“In every jurisdiction in the world, when ride-share comes in, there is immediate devaluation of the taxi industry. That’s still going to happen here,” said Scott McFadyen of the Winnipeg Community Taxi Coalition. “We are less competitive than we were a week ago but we’re still in business.”

The fact driver shields and other safety devices won’t be required for ride-hailing companies proved a key sticking point in the debate. Taxi drivers deemed that a critical safety concern while an Uber representative said being force to install them would be a “deal breaker.”

Prashanthi Raman, director of public policy for Lyft, said safety risks are naturally lower for ride-share operations, since drivers don’t rely on cash transactions and bookings identify both drivers and passengers.

“We think the technology goes very far to secure safe rides,” said Raman.

Chris Schafer, public policy manager for Uber Canada, said his company is still planning to be ready to serve Winnipeg by March 1.

“I know from public opinion polling in Winnipeg the overwhelming majority of citizens want choice in the way they move in and around their city,” said Schafer.