Lauren Gargiulo missed the bus that would have taken her from Upper Lonsdale to her dentist’s office on West First Street Tuesday morning.
“The next bus wouldn’t have gotten me there on time,” she said.
So Gargiulo pulled out her phone and did something that wouldn’t have been possible in North Vancouver a week ago – she ordered an Uber.
Five minutes later, the driver picked her up and got her to the appointment on time.
“It was great,” she said. The cost of the trip was roughly $12, said Gargiulo – a couple of dollars less than it would have been by taxi.
Her Uber driver told her he’s a landscaper, driving to make some extra cash in low season.
On Friday, ride-hailing officially launched in Metro Vancouver, after years of debate and approval of regulatory details from B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board.
Two companies, Uber and Lyft, have started ride-hailing operation in the Lower Mainland. But only one of those – Uber – is operating on the North Shore.
Currently, Uber’s service area for pickup includes North Vancouver and about half of West Vancouver – as far west as 25th Street in Dundarave.
That could expand as both the number of drivers and demand for service grows, the company said.
Lyft is currently only operating in the City of Vancouver.
Ride-hailing appeared to be slowly ramping up on the North Shore over the first few days in business.
Although neither company was sharing the number of people who have signed up to become ride-hailing drivers – who must have a Class 4 driver’s licence and a criminal record check – availability of drivers appeared to be an early stumbling block.
Several would-be riders said they’d tried to order an Uber car through the app, only to be told no cars were available.
Nicole Elder said she had no luck when she tried to order one on the North Shore Saturday night. Eventually she gave up and used an app to call North Shore Taxi, which arrived in five minutes, she said.
North Vancouver-Seymour Liberal MLA Jane Thornthwaite had a similar experience when she tried to get an Uber car in Lynn Valley. The requirement for a Class 4 driver’s licence will limit the number of drivers – especially at first, she said.
But Thornthwaite said she’s happy to see ride-hailing finally go ahead in B.C. “I’ve been advocating for it for years,” she said.
Thornthwaite said while people in busy transit corridors are well served by buses, people who live farther out haven’t had many good transportation options – particularly late at night, and especially when trying to get home from downtown where taxi drivers often refuse fares that take them outside of their service area.
Gurdip Sahota, general manager of Sunshine Cabs in West Vancouver, said those regulations that limit where taxis can pick up customers and how many taxis can be on the road are just as frustrating for taxi companies.
Sahota said taxi operators remain bound by much more red tape than ride-hailing drivers, which is hurting business.
Sahota said he’s heard anecdotal reports in the first few days of ride-hailing that drivers have seen a drop-off in their call volumes, especially from taxis picking up at the airport. Shares in taxi licences that allow taxis to operate aren’t always owned by the person doing the driving. In the case of Sunshine Cabs, about half the drivers don’t own taxi licences but pay a monthly lease to the licence owner, said Sahota.
One of the concerns of taxi companies is that they may start losing their drivers to Uber and Lyft, he said.
On Monday, the Vancouver Taxi Association – representing nine taxi companies, including North Shore Taxi – filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court, asking the court to impose an injunction on the Passenger Transportation Board’s ride-hailing approvals. That is expected to be heard in court this week.
Bowinn Ma, NDP MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, said ride-hailing has been a very polarizing topic among her constituents. “I think a lot of people are happy about having different ways to get around,” she said.
But Ma added others have concerns about the way ride-hailing services operate.
Ride-hailing has been shown to increase traffic congestion, she said – a big concern on the North Shore. Issues like low pay for “gig economy” workers is also a concern, she said.
“They are so dominant in their markets and so visible,” she said.
Ma said she hasn’t taken an Uber or Lyft car yet.
“I usually travel by bike or public transit.”
