BC organizations band together in push to bring in ridesharing
Posted February 7, 2018 12:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A number of different interest groups have banded together in an new push to bring ridesharing to BC.
Ian Tostenson with the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association speaks for “Ridesharing Now BC,” which includes the Vancouver Board of Trade, BC Business Council, The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, among others.
“There is a suggestion that there should be one app in British Columbia for all ridesharing. We just find it, frankly, is silly because that would mean that you wouldn’t have an Uber app or a Lyft app — you’d have an app that would include taxis and ridesharing companies… nowhere in the world does it do that.
The coalition has launched a letter-writing campaign to BC politicians calling for a competitive ridesharing industry “that can deliver much-needed choice to BC passengers.”
Supporters are directed to the ridesharingnow.com website, where they can sign and email a letter to their representative in the legislature calling for speedy introduction of ride-hailing services.
Tostenson says politics, rather than public opinion, is driving decision making in Victoria.
He says the government sets the conditions that will attract ridesharing services to BC, and warns it should not be taken for granted that companies such as Lyft and Uber will inevitably operate in the province.
Anne McMullin, president and chief executive officer of the Urban Development Institute’s Pacific region says balanced, well-planned communities depend on convenient, reliable and affordable transportation options.
“The Urban Development Institute is strongly encouraging the B.C. government to follow the lead of over 40 other Canadian jurisdictions that already benefit from ride-sharing, and take immediate action to introduce a framework to enable a competitive market for ride-sharing that increases choice for passengers,” McMullin says.