American corporations will kill a “solid system”
Northlander pilot to allow Uber, Lyft targets local family owned businesses
“Doug Ford is taking something solid and making it precarious,” says Bill Sibeon of Al’s Taxi in Huntsville.
“My family has been serving this community for 50 years and we take our responsibility very, very seriously,” Sibeon told Taxi News.
“We follow the by-laws, all of them, as written. If the by-laws change, we follow the new ones. Town municipal staff know where to find us if they need something: I pay a staff person to sit in our office 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.”
Keeping an office with staff and following all of the by-laws costs money, Sibeon points out: money that he may not have if American corporations like Uber and Lyft are allowed to start selling cheaper rides subsidized by private equity during the most convenient times, but then disappear at 3am or during January snowstorms.
“Our system might not be the fastest, we cover great distances driving between towns and we work with the busses and with our clients to make schedules work. But we have a system, and the system works and we can afford to maintain it.
“If Uber gets special treatment; doesn’t have to open an office and pay staff here; doesn’t have to provide Accessible services; can sit at the bus or train station in the afternoon in summer but doesn’t have to provide service in winter, it will upset the whole system. Doug Ford is introducing precarity into a solid system, and residents may not see the damage until it is too late.”
Although the Ford government announced on November 6 that it would be reviewing Ontario’s “rideshare framework” in a few sentences in the Fall Economic statement, few people took notice.
The Ford government believes it needs to increase available ground transportation services to meet the demand it is predicting will occur in Ontario towns when the Northlander Train begins running again. It has proposed a pilot project to create new regulations allowing Uber, Lyft, and other app-based ground transportation services first along the Northlander route with the option of extending regulations to the entire province.
However, the Northlander pilot published no baseline data to confirm that there is in fact a gap in service; no evaluation criteria, no service thresholds, and no police-informed enforcement recommendations.
The Canadian Taxi Association took (CTA) note of the fall announcement and worked with a coaltion of groups including the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police to create a proposed framework which would address consumer protection; passenger safety; Accessible services; driver’s earnings; gridlock and congestion; and emissions.
It was the CTA which notified Sibeon of the MTO rideshare consultations which took place in March; neither Sibeon nor any other Taxi company owner between Toronto and Timmins was invited to take part in the consultations.
“Why this government would want to get into bed with a company that has proven over and over it does not care about the people it serves, does not want to obey the same laws everyone else obeys, and forces its drivers to compete for poverty wages is a mystery to me,” Sibeon says.
“If Uber is allowed to run wild all over the province, family-owned Taxi companies will be destroyed and then Uber can charge anything it wants, which it will.”
In fact, on March 25th the town of Innisfil, Ontario received a landmark staff report detailing the results of that community’s 9 year experiment investing in Uber services in place of public transportation like busses and Taxis using a regulated rate card. Innisfil staff have described use of Uber services as resulting in “dis-economies of scale” and recommend the town return to fixed bus/shuttle routes and established ground transportation rates.
Innisfil staff and Councillors noted on that Uber drivers are often not willing to pick up in rural areas; disappear when there is not enough demand to stay busy; and sometimes cancel rides at the last minute, leaving residents stranded. Under most traditionally regulated ground transportation systems these things would not be allowed to occur. However, as one Innisfil Councillor noted, they have not had much control over Uber’s policies in years past; all the Councillors who spoke clearly want much more detailed control over these policies moving forward.
