Province to introduce ride hailing legislation

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – B.C. could finally be getting ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, as the provincial government gears up to introduce legislation Monday afternoon.

The province announced it is introducing the passenger transportation amendment act and will detail its “next step to enable ride-hailing in British Columbia” during a news conference at 1:45 p.m.

“I think there’s all sorts of tempered expectations,” said Ian Tostenson, leader of Ridesharing Now for BC, a coalition of organizations promoting ride-sharing.

RELATED: Ride-hailing legislation being introduced in Victoria

Tostenson, who is also the president of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, said while he is pleased and optimistic to see legislation coming forward, he worries about the government stymying the popular service to placate the opposing taxi industry.

“What we do fear is putting limitations on the service itself; restricting the number of drivers, where they can drive, because taxis work within a geographical area and they can’t pick up outside of their area,” he said. “They could either make a completely competitive landscape so that everyone can compete in a fair and equal way or they could maybe confer some advantages to the taxi industry, which wouldn’t be good for ride-sharing.”

WATCH: More Calls For Ride Hailing In B.C.

 

Details of insurance for ride-hailing drivers still remains a mystery, according to Tostenson.

Premier John Horgan promised during last year’s election to have ride-hailing in place by the end of last year, but given today’s expected announcement, it’s unlikely BC will see the service until at least the fall of 2019.

RELATED: B.C. will have to wait until 2019 for Uber and Lyft

“I think the government’s going to be cautious just for political reasons and we’re going to encourage them to move faster than that because they had a year and a half to study this,” Tostenson said. “In a perfect world, we would like to see applications being allowed to be put in by the spring and implementation by the fall. We’d like it earlier, but we’re trying to be realistic.”

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