If Uber is driven out of town, let’s hope the spirit of innovation doesn’t follow

Nationalpost.com
Dec. 10, 2015
By Chris Selley

Memo to Toronto’s aggrieved communities: civil disobedience works really, really well. On Wednesday evening, taxi drivers vacated the intersection of Bay and Queen only on the promise of a meeting with Police Chief Mark Saunders. Said meeting will occur just 40 hours later, at noon on Friday. And pro-taxi councillor Giorgio Mammoliti said he would suggest to the Licensing and Standards Committee that taxi owners’ and drivers’ fees be waived pending some resolution of the Uber issue.

Since the city has basically shrugged at an unlicensed taxi company, that might be a fair move. It could also be a useful negotiating tool, because it’s tough to see what could come out of Friday’s meeting that will prevent future protests like Wednesday’s.

After protesters vacated the intersection, I asked three very interested parties what they thought needed to come out of the meeting with Saunders.

Fleet operator Sam Moini was measured. “We’re having the discussion to see what our needs are, and what we think the police chief can do,” he told reporters. “And we’re hoping that the police chief at the end of the day will have our ideas as his ideas.” The Greek chorus of cabbies surrounding Moini was quite adamant, however, that Uber be fired forthwith into the sun.

“We want them to enforce the bylaws (against) the bandit and gypsy cabs working this city,” said Paul Sekhon, a manager at City Taxi and the most vocally militant of the protesters. “We want them to actually impound the vehicles if you get caught picking up hired passengers without a plate.”

“The Highway Traffic Act ... states that nobody should drive a passenger for money (without) commercial insurance,” said fiercely pro-taxi councillor Jim Karygiannis. “Well, Uber does not have commercial insurance, they’re not licensed, so therefore the police can do their job.”

We’ll see. But practically speaking, UberX is really only vulnerable to a court injunction against its operations, which the city is not pursuing, or to a large undercover sting operation, which Saunders claims he is not legally allowed to launch.

Should additional protests ensue, it is difficult to imagine police meaningfully intervening to halt them. I’m no expert on riots, but I was prepared to witness one Wednesday night had officers not been the epitome of calm diplomacy, which they were. So things could get very interesting in this town between now and whenever city staff unveil regulations that are supposed to give both taxis and UberX a fair shake.

It is striking how all this strife is over such a beginner-level innovation. In other cities, Uber is offering far more advanced alternatives not just to taxis but also to public transit. UberPool matches up passengers travelling similar routes to a single driver. And UberHop rolled out on Thursday in Seattle: For $5, you get a ride from specified point A to specified point B in an SUV with whoever else has requested one - small, privately run express buses, in essence, but technologically enabled to address demand in real time.

The invested value of Toronto’s taxi licences is a real issue. The livelihood of taxi drivers is a real issue. And if one is concerned about liking companies (I’m not), Uber Technologies Inc. is a very difficult company to like. If it had a human face, it would be curled in a permanent smirk.

Nevertheless, by popularizing transportation solutions in resolute adherence to supply and demand, Uber offers cities an inherently desirable revolution - if not on Uber’s terms, then on their own.

A Caribbean vacation doesn’t cost the same in July as it does over March Break. Why should it cost the same to use the Gardiner Expressway at 5 a.m. as it does at 5 p.m.? Why should the creators of congestion not have to pay for it? Why shouldn’t GTA drivers accept fares through their smart phones for packing their cars full of as many commuters as they can carry? Carpooling is good, right? Why would we send a TTC bus along a given route every 20 minutes on principle, not knowing if 10 people or three people or no one was interested in riding it, if people could indicate their need and have it accommodated in real time?

If Toronto eventually drives Uber out of town - the most likely option, in my view - we have to hope it doesn’t drive the spirit of innovation out as well. Alas, the spirit of innovation in Toronto being as weak as it is, there is serious cause for concern.