BC Government wants Uber to "not detract from existing businesses"

http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2012/11/safe-fair-passenger-transportation-a-priority.html

by imack • 14 years ago

9 7 14 years ago

newsroom.gov.bc.ca

spitfire• 14 years ago

Sigh. I'm sorry.

Canada is a horribly, horribly conservative place. Best of luck offering innovative services that challenge incumbents.

mtgx• 14 years ago

They are not even afraid to admit that they openly support the incumbents over new competitors.

shinratdr• 14 years ago

Why should they be?

There is little wrong with the current cab system. Sometimes a race to the bottom isn't what is best for everyone involved.

bosch• 14 years ago

While I'm for a disruptive force to the cab business, automobiles also should have some licensing when transporting other people as a service with the transaction of money. So I'm for Uber not being allowed in BC unless they license their drivers. The question is, can the existing industry improve without losing everything to entirely unregulated drivers who may have 5 previous hit and run convictions that no one knows about? There's going to be a large market for lawsuits involving companies like Uber and AirBNB that crowd source solutions.

I really have no idea why the hell there's a $75 minimum fee, that's absolutely ridiculous!

frankus2• 14 years ago

My understanding is that Uber is using only licensed drivers. But they're using drivers who are licensed for limousines rather than taxicabs.

There are some pretty antiquated laws surrounding taxicabs in most larger cities, and the degree of regulatory capture in the industry is pretty staggering.

What's surprising is how blatant the protectionism is in this case.

frankus2• 14 years ago

Reminds me of a great article on taxis in general I read last year:

http://daily.sightline.org/2011/08/05/freeing-taxis/

"What if the Northwest’s cities legally capped the number of pizza delivery cars? What if, despite growing urban population and disposable incomes, our Pizza Delivery Oversight Boards had scarcely issued new delivery licenses since 1975?"

I started talking about this with one of my Canadian friends and his response was basically that limiting the number of cabs was clearly a good thing and that it helped taxi drivers make a living. The argument that it was a bad thing for anyone trying to get into the taxi business didn't really sway him.

My general impression is that while Americans are more willing to stand aside when a market is clearly failing, Canadians are more willing to intervene when a market is clearly working.

mijustin• 14 years ago

Funny that governments always cite safety concerns, and yet I can't find any research that shows that services like Uber are less safe than taking a traditional cab.

What I do see are lots of lawsuits from incumbents about "unfair competition".

BC Government wants Uber to "not detract from existing businesses"

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