The NDP’s promise to bring ride hailing to B.C. is stuck in a very low gear. The Vancouver area is one of the last major cities in North America that doesn’t have ride hailing. Consumers, unable to get a taxi at peak times, have repeatedly said these are services they want. Make that double on the North Shore, regarded as something of a Bermuda Triangle by downtown taxi drivers.
But instead of getting into the fast lane on allowing Uber and Lyft to start their engines here, the NDP has been idling away, serving up delay tactics and a report on modernizing the taxi industry in July, which few people actually wanted.
Uber and Lyft are welcome to set up shop, says the transportation minister – but only if they essentially act like taxis. The same government has yet to bring the hammer down on Chinese-language ride-hailing apps already in business.
Some of the NDP’s cautions may have merit. If citizens are to jump in their cars and offer rides for hire, it makes sense to have safety checks and reasonable insurance in place.
And there are arguments to be made about whether on-demand service will be a net benefit if it means more drivers on the same congested streets.
The main wrench in the gears, however, involves rules that have nothing to do with public safety or transportation and everything to do with protection of the taxi industry. Few other industries enjoy such a degree of economic coddling by the nanny state. The taxi industry is heavily concentrated into several key Surrey ridings where the issue can make or break the fortunes of politicians – and parties. It’s precisely why the Liberals had 10 years to bring in ride hailing and chose not to.
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