‘It makes no sense’: Port Coquitlam’s mayor speaks out against plans for ride-hailing restrictions
Posted July 20, 2018 11:14 am.
Last Updated July 20, 2018 11:40 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – The soon-to-be former mayor of Port Coquitlam is no fan of plans to restrict where ride-hailing services are allowed to operate whenever they’re finally legal in this province.
Yesterday’s announcement from Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said the government is preparing legislation for the fall session. One of four focuses outlined in the news release is “supply and boundaries for taxis, and other passenger-directed vehicles (rideshares).”
Greg Moore is speaking out against geographical boundaries. He says they would be similar to what the taxi industry has to comply with now.
“The whole point of bringing in ride sharing is giving people more flexibility in their transportation options — not to continue to limit choices that they have. Putting geographical boundaries is the same challenge we have with the taxi industry now, when you go out into the suburbs,” he tells us.
“I think they should do the opposite and open up — like they’re doing with the taxi industry, opening up — but open up ride sharing, as well.”
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Moore, who is not seeking re-election this fall, says he understands it won’t be easy for the province to find the right balance, but he thinks the market needs to be opened up to more competition.
“Sometimes, the taxi doesn’t want to take you from Vancouver out to the suburbs or vice versa. Now, to put a geo-sensed boundary around ride-sharing, it makes no sense. It makes zero sense,” he argues.
Moore likens the idea to allowing people to drive their car in three cities, but not letting them drive to the other end of the Lower Mainland. “We don’t want to strand people at borders or boundaries, just because they happen to live somewhere else.”
“It limits the potential success that [ride-hailing companies] might have and then it maybe fails and then the taxi industry prevails and the taxi industry is happy.”
Back in December, a video of a Vancouver Yellow Cab driver refusing to take a customer home to New Westminster, saying the trip was “too far” went viral.
That driver was suspended shortly after the incident.
Last month, reality TV star Jillian Harris took to social media to share her experience trying to get from Port Moody to downtown Vancouver. The “Love it or List it Vancouver” star, who was pregnant, says a driver with Bel-Air Taxi refused her trip because it was too far. She claims the cabbie instead offered to drive her to a SkyTrain station.
The company later said the driver was near the end of a shift and that was why the journey was denied.
Moore doubts the taxi industry will suffer when ride-hailing finally becomes legal in B.C. He adds he’s already an Uber customer, and would like to see the provincial government fast-track approval by the end of this year.
– With files from Sonia Aslam
