Has British Columbia overhyped ride-hailing?

That’s Transportation Minister Claire Trevena announcing the ride-hailing legislation on Monday afternoon. If approved, the amendments would significantly expand the power of the Passenger Transportation Board, which will have more authority to determine fares and the number of licensed vehicles in each area. Drivers for services like Uber and Lyft will need to have Class 4 licences, which means they'll have to undergo criminal record checks and medical fitness checks every five years. On the other hand, taxi and ride-hailing drivers won't need separate chauffeur permits for each city they drive in.

In response, a coalition of businesses and interest groups advocating for ride-hailing in British Columbia says legislation introduced this week will just create an expanded taxi industry, not the ride-hailing services that customers expect.

However, despite ride-hailing being available around the globe, not every city has had a positive experience with the service providers. Kamil Karamali is a  reporter with Global News Toronto and he spoke with Simi Sara this morning about some of the ride-hailing problems being reported in the GTA.

Another tragic case in Toronto involved the death of a passenger in the back of an Uber. 28 year old Nicholas Cameron was killed when the Uber driver failed to properly merge the vehicle back into traffic on a busy highway six months ago. His mom Cheryl Hawkes is now working to amend ride sharing by-laws.

Guest: Ian Tostenson

Ridesharing Now for BC

That’s Transportation Minister Claire Trevena announcing the ride-hailing legislation on Monday afternoon. If approved, the amendments would significantly expand the power of the Passenger Transportation Board, which will have more authority to determine fares and the number of licensed vehicles in each area. Drivers for services like Uber and Lyft will need to have Class 4 licences, which means they'll have to undergo criminal record checks and medical fitness checks every five years. On the other hand, taxi and ride-hailing drivers won't need separate chauffeur permits for each city they drive in.

In response, a coalition of businesses and interest groups advocating for ride-hailing in British Columbia says legislation introduced this week will just create an expanded taxi industry, not the ride-hailing services that customers expect.

However, despite ride-hailing being available around the globe, not every city has had a positive experience with the service providers. Kamil Karamali is a  reporter with Global News Toronto and he spoke with Simi Sara this morning about some of the ride-hailing problems being reported in the GTA.

Another tragic case in Toronto involved the death of a passenger in the back of an Uber. 28 year old Nicholas Cameron was killed when the Uber driver failed to properly merge the vehicle back into traffic on a busy highway six months ago. His mom Cheryl Hawkes is now working to amend ride sharing by-laws.

Guest: Ian Tostenson

Ridesharing Now for BC