MORE CABS COMING?
City rethinking rules, but Uber still not wanted.
Vancouver city councillors are set to consider a lineup of recommendations to bolster taxi service in the city, but giving the green light for rideshares — read services like Uber — is not among them.
Instead, city staff propose various fixes like ending a moratorium on new taxi licences, and issuing permanent peak period licences for 99 local and 38 suburban taxis to improve service to the downtown entertainment district.
Among the other recommendations listed in a staff report up for consideration by council on Oct. 20 is a novel ideal to consider “destination-themed” taxi stands “to better connect passengers with drivers motivated to carry them.”
The concept would see passengers make their way to a Surrey-bound hub if they’re headed in that direction, for example, or a North Shore-bound hub for those crossing Burrard Inlet.
An entire section of the report deals with customer safety, recommending drivers take refresher courses every five years and be certified to perform first aid. And another points to a few glaring problems related to accessible taxis.
Were the recommendations approved, they would require accessible taxi drivers to “wait at least three minutes for the passenger to arrive at the pickup point” and, in case of a medical emergency, “wait for paramedics to arrive.”
A trio of recommendations are intended to boost environmental performance, including requiring limousines to meet “a minimum environmental performance standard for fuel efficiency.”
Staff are also requesting direction to look at enabling taxi sharing — not to be confused with ridesharing — for some trips and integrating TransLink’s Compass Card system with taxis.
The topic of ridesharing first appears toward the bottom of the list of recommendations, and the wording suggests staff and stakeholders they consulted may not be eager to open the doors to the popular and innovative service model anytime soon.
“In liaison with other local governments in the region, the (Passenger Transportation Board), ICBC, the taxi and ridesharing industries as well as key user stakeholder groups (e.g. disabled community, seniors, the Port and tourism), examine the issues and opportunities for rideshare in Metro Vancouver, and report back to Council with findings,” reads the recommendation.
Staff acknowledge the popularity of ridesharing in the report, pointing to evidence of shorter waiting times, lower fares and higher customer satisfaction in markets where Uber — probably the best known among rideshare companies — is operating. Uber drivers can be found in hundreds of cities in 60 countries, according to the company.
“On the other hand,” reads the report, “rideshare raises significant concerns about passenger safety, future taxi industry viability, and the availability of accessible service to disabled persons.”
Meanwhile, regularizing 38 part-time licences for suburban taxis to pick up passengers in the downtown core would end a prolonged battle between policy-makers and Vancouver taxi companies.
The severe shortage of taxis in the downtown core on Friday and Saturday nights has been called a serious public safety issue by the B.C. Taxi Association and is an all-around pain for anyone needing a ride home. The Passenger Transportation Board tried to fix the problem in 2012, when it approved 137 more parttime licences, including 38 for suburban operators who would be permitted to pick up fares in the city between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
Vancouver taxi companies went to court to keep out the suburban cabs, but lost the battle last year.