Taxi bylaw stalled

Therecord.com
Oct. 29, 2015
By Paige Desmond

A new vehicle for hire bylaw won't be effective in January as planned after regional staff were inundated with public feedback.

Kris Fletcher, director of council and administrative services, said it won't be until after budget approval in January that the bylaw comes to council for a vote.

"We have hoards of information that we're still plowing through," Fletcher said.

The plan is to bring an update report to Region of Waterloo council before year's end.

That report, Fletcher said, will outline the biggest issues for the bylaw and a few options of how each could be dealt with. The region started a review of its existing taxi and limousine bylaws earlier this year.

Issues might include ride-hailing apps such as Uber or limits on taxi licences.

Those options will then go out to the public for input and a final report would later be brought back to council with a proposed new bylaw.

Three public input sessions were held in the last couple of months to get input on a draft bylaw. On online survey and meetings with stakeholder groups were also organized.

"Staff has been overwhelmed by the amount of information they have and they've been doing a lot of research as well," said Coun. Jane Mitchell who chairs the committee overseeing the local taxi industry.

Survey results are with a consultant for analysis, Fletcher said.

Much of the discussion about the new bylaw centres on ride-hailing app Uber and the taxi industry, which opposes the app.

Mitchell said much of the feedback is supportive of apps such as Uber.

"I would say there's a general support for Uber-like apps," she said. "Maybe the public isn't thrilled on Uber themselves, but certainly the idea of Uber-like apps is there."

The local taxi industry opposes Uber saying it is not safe and doesn't follow the same rules as taxis.

A draft of the new bylaw would make Uber legal provided drivers adhere to several safety regulations.

David Maxwell, spokesperson for the Waterloo Region Taxi Alliance, told The Record what the region can do with its draft bylaw.

"Take the new draft bylaw off the table, establish a committee consisting of the legal stakeholders and develop a vision which outlines our community needs for the future and the role the taxi industry plays in that vision," he said.

The Uber app allows almost anyone with a licence to offer rides-for-hire in their personal vehicle.

"The Region of Waterloo is working diligently on the new bylaw and we have been participating actively in this process," said Susie Heath, spokesperson from Uber Canada. "We look forward to continuing our work together toward a new regulatory framework for ridesharing in Waterloo."

Mitchell said talk about the local entrepreneurial spirit has come through public input on the new bylaw.

"Being an entrepreneurial region how do we help people do things better, do things different," she said.