Toronto will look at mandatory training for Uber, taxi drivers

Thestar.com
December 17, 2018
David Rider

Toronto has moved a step closer to requiring training courses for drivers of taxis and ride-hail services such as Uber and Lyft, an issue under scrutiny since a man’s death last March.

The new 26-member city council, during its first full meeting, directed city staff to recommend, in a coming report on how to update and improve rules on taxi and ride-hail services, consideration of “all measures to increase public safety and the training requirements” for drivers.

On his second day driving for Uber, Abdihared Bishar-Mussa, right, crashed on his way to the airport. The collision killed Nicholas Cameron, left, who is seen here with his niece in family photo.

Staff were also asked to suggest a new public reporting mechanism for companies’ safety records.

Councillor Mike Layton, who tabled the motion, said he senses a willingness among colleagues to reconsider council’s 2016 decision to scrap all training requirements.

Transportation staff had recommended expanding mandatory 17-day training for taxi drivers to also include those who use their own vehicles to drive, often part-time, for Uber, Lyft and similar app-based services.

Mayor John Tory successfully proposed scrapping the training, among many changes to staff-proposed rules, after furious lobbying of council members and city staff by both Uber and taxi industry representatives during formulation of rules to legalize and regulate the new services.

“I think everyone’s kind of realized some basic level of knowledge of Toronto, of geography, of basic road safety is required,” for people paid to transport members of the public, Layton said Friday.

“If it’s about making the training better and rigorous, why wouldn’t we? These are people who spend a lot of time on our roads, let’s make sure they’re the best drivers on the road.”

Calls to reintroduce safe-driving training have increased since last March when Nicholas Cameron, 28, was killed and his girlfriend injured while being driven to Pearson airport.

On his second day driving for Uber, Abdihared Bishar-Mussa didn’t know the way to the airport and, while getting directions from his cellphone, dropped it. He pulled over to retrieve his phone and then veered back on to the Gardiner Expressway, where his car was hit by another driver looking at his phone, court heard at Bishar-Mussa’s sentencing this month. Bishar-Mussa was ordered to take a remedial driving course, sentenced to two years of probation and lost his licence for a year.

Cheryl Hawkes, Cameron’s mother, has been calling for council to bring back training. She wants a $575 Centennial College course, still used by taxi companies, to become mandatory for all drivers for hire in Toronto.

City council “levelled the playing field downward to accommodate or appease Uber,” so the California-based tech company could get as many drivers as possible on the road, and earn the most profits, with the least hassle for drivers, Hawkes said.

Council in 2016 decreed drivers must have a valid licence, fewer than nine demerit points, and no convictions for major Highway Traffic Act offences. Vehicles must be newer, have all-weather or snow tires and pass annual inspections.

“Everybody’s got to have peace of mind that if somebody’s driving people for money, it’s not good enough to just have a car and driver’s licence,” said Hawkes, adding she wants classroom and in-car training. Online courses are not good enough because you don’t know it’s the driver taking them, Hawkes added.

City transportation staff are scheduled to bring the review to council this spring. Currently licensed in Toronto are 14,125 taxi drivers for 5,207 cabs, and 71,680 “private transportation company drivers.”

In a statement, Uber Canada said: “We are constantly investing in policies, practices and technology that support safety on Uber. We look forward to engage with the City as they undertake their review.”

Lyft Canada said in a statement safety is a top priority and the company has measures including in-app photos of drivers, real-time ride tracking and a 24-7 critical response line. “We will continue to work collaboratively with the City of Toronto through this process,” the company said.

Tory spokesman Don Peat said the mayor “believes safety has to be the number one consideration in this matter,” and he “looks forward to seeing staff’s recommendations on how we can enhance safety in vehicles-for-hire.”