VFH industry happy to see report sent back to staff
“Those recommendations were a dumpster fire.”
–Kristine Hubbard, Beck Taxi
“Finally, one year after the City realized how bad things were, they really listened.”
One year after Mayor Olivia Chow sent staff to review the Vehicle for Hire system and a full decade after Uber’s illegal arrival in Toronto, industry members feel there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Executive Committee dealt with two separate items at its December 10 meeting, Analysis of Driver Wages in the Vehicle-for-Hire Industry and 2024 Review of the Vehicle-for-Hire By-Law and Industry. Numerous deputants explained in their remarks that until Toronto fixed the Vehicle for Hire (VFH) program including limiting the number of vehicles on the road, there would be no way to fix driver wages. The juxtaposition of the two items appeared to impact Councillors, who agreed unanimously to send the report back to staff in order to study areas of concern.
“Finally, one year after the City realized how bad things were, they really listened,” said George Wedge, president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario. “They know now beyond a shadow of a doubt how bad it is, and there is no ignoring it. I think Executive Committee is prepared to recommend real action to Toronto Council.” RDAO’s recommendations include a single transferrable license for rideshare drivers and a city-managed rate card which is transparent to drivers and riders.
Dozens of deputants spoke to the Committee Members, mostly Uber drivers and Taxi operators but also industry managers and corporate representatives. Councillors heard about drivers earning poverty wages struggling to keep their cars on the road. Although the staff report recommended a $55,000 subsidy to operators willing to invest in a Wheelchair Accessible Vans (WAVs), multiple speakers pointed out that there is not enough business available for them re-invest in that failing system.
“Those recommendations were a dumpster fire,” Beck Taxi’s Operations Manager Kristine Hubbard told Taxi News. Although she stopped short of saying she was happy, Hubbard said she “happier than if staff recommendations had passed.”
“It was a satisfying day,” agrees Neil Shorey of City Taxi. “It was great, watching Mayor Chow turn back the big ‘Uber Lobby Machine.’”
Uber’s representative in Toronto Jake Brockman told the meeting that Toronto would be “the only 2026 World Cup host city to have limited the supply of ride share,” and that in a recent study of residents “the top concerns that they expressed to the city were increased prices, increased wait times and too few drivers to provide transportation services.”
Committee’s decision to send the report back to staff for further work and research means nothing will change on the short term for Vehicle for Hire drivers. It also means the number of functional vehicles in Toronto’s Accessible Taxi on-demand program will plummet to almost zero in early 2025.
