Ride-hailing has now set up shop in B.C. and depending on how you look at it, this development is either a tremendous breakthrough for consumers or the worst thing to come along in quite a while.
Certainly, the existing traditional taxi situation has long failed riders in many parts of the region. It is an antiquated, inefficient and unreliable system hamstrung by an industry-wide refusal to modernize and keep its focus on serving customers rather than protecting turf.
Stories abound of travelers waiting forever for a taxi to get out of YVR, or people stranded in downtown Vancouver late at night, unable to find a taxi home.
So when ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft came knocking, the taxi industry was unable to draw on much public support or sympathy to keep these companies at bay.
It was perhaps inevitable that the NDP government (and it would have made no difference if the B.C. Liberals were in power) bowed to growing public pressure and gave ride-hailing the green light.
Make no mistake; ride-hailing is not the kind of industry near and dear to the NDP’s political DNA. It desires minimal regulation in an open market and detests unionization coming anywhere near it.
Its typical employee works part-time for fairly low wages, hardly the kind of employment scenario advocated by the NDP, a party where championing the rights of workers is a top philosophical priority.
Ride-hailing is perhaps the biggest example of what is known as the emerging “gig economy.” In it, people are considered “independent contractors” and not employees defined in the classical sense. Often, people work in two or three part-time jobs and therefore are unlikely to enjoy the benefits – health coverage etc. – that may come from having a single employer.
At the moment, the B.C. Labor Relations board is considering a complaint by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which is arguing Uber and Lyft drivers should not be considered independent contractors and are, in fact, “employees” entitled to such things as overtime pay and paid vacations.
How the LRB rules could well determine whether Uber and Lyft’s business model (the two companies already lose a staggering amount of money – Uber lost $1.8 billion last year alone) can be effective in this province.
Nevertheless, ride-hailing is popular with the travelling public and that makes it difficult for any government to keep it at bay forever. Still, signs of trouble associated with ride-hailing have emerged in recent months and it will be interesting to see if they are repeated here.
Recent U.S. studies on the impact of ride-hailing services have had some disturbing findings.
For example, a study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities found that greenhouse emissions had spiked an alarming amount as ride-hailing use jumped 28 per cent in one year. Ride-hailing means more cars on the road that are being driven for longer periods.
More vehicles also mean greater congestion on the roads. A study in San Francisco found that congestion from 2010 to 2016 had increased 62 per cent and attributed half of that increase to a steady rise in ride-hailing operations.
Several studies point to less use of public transportation with the increase in ride-hailing. That could make it harder to make a proper business model for future, expensive taxpayer investments in transportation projects.
Then there is the fact the Uber drivers, upset about poor working conditions and low wages, staged one-day strikes in more than a half dozen U.S. cities last year. In addition, more than 3,000 Uber passengers reported being sexually assaulted last year.
As ride-hailing takes hold to a greater degree in Metro Vancouver, it will be vitally important to collect as much data as possible on its impact in many areas, both positive and negative. Depending on what is found, municipal governments as well as the provincial government may have to step in and drastically change the rules.
The public may like the shiny new toy that is ride-hailing, but let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a curse.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC. Keith.Baldrey@globalnews.ca
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