Uber voted third best Taxi company in Toronto
Congratulations to Uber on being named the third best Taxi company in Toronto, by vote of Toronto Star readers in the November 18 Readers’ Choice Awards.
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Ride Hailing news
In-class and in-car driver training are essential, Hubbard says: online is not enough
“Customer service doesn’t matter, if you’re dead,” Kristine Hubbard points out bluntly. Hubbard, Operations Manager at Beck Taxi, is commenting on the Request for Proposals released November 9th by Toronto’s Licensing and Standards department as it moves forward with hiring
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Vaccine Mandates and Passports: Confusing by Design
As someone who often gets paid to write government bafflegab for a living, I am here to tell you: this information is not confusing by accident. It is confusing on purpose. It is confusing for a reason.
It is confusing by design.
Read MoreNicholas Cameron’s death was “a tragedy,” Mayor Tory says during driver training debate
Five years after his own personal Motion at Council enabled Uber to enter the ground transportation market in Toronto, Mayor John Tory appears to be conceding that mistakes were made.
At the November 10 online meeting of Toronto Council, Tory voted in favour of pausing the issuance of new licenses to drivers for hire until the training program mandated by Council in 2019 is implemented.
“As I have heard people mention here tonight, this is about safety,” Tory explained.
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Gord Perks makes stunning admission at Council: training “doesn’t fit Uber’s business model”
During the online meeting of Toronto Council held November 10th, Councillor Gord Perks made a stunning admission which appeared to confirm the worst fears of Toronto’s entire Taxi industry.
Perks detailed some of the motivations and actions which occurred when Toronto Council voted to permit ride hailing companies to operate with a set of rules which were different and more lenient than those mandated for Taxis.
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Toronto Council votes for “safety” as vehicle for hire licensing will be paused until driver training program is in place
Toronto Council voted to direct staff to stop issuing licenses to vehicle for hire drivers until a training program is in place.
The motion, put forward and subsequently amended by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam passed by a vote of 22-3 with only Councillors Colle, Holyday and Minnan-Wong voting against it.
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Vehicle for hire driver training debate moved to November 10
Training for drivers of vehicles for hire was scheduled to be debated at the November 9, 2021 Toronto City Council meeting, however, it was moved over to be considered as the first private item on Wednesday, November 10th. (The item may need to be considered by Council in camera if a City lawyer is asked to provide advice about an ongoing lawsuit against the City.)
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Drivers who are making money should be trained: Beck Taxi deputation
“We have tons of steel being operated on busy streets, approaching curbside, responding to communication devices, attending to strangers in the backseat, assisting with mobility devices, navigating traffic and congestion.
“That is the nightmare we’re living in this city right now. But drivers are making money doing those things, and they should be trained.”
Read More Toronto Council to debate training for vehicle for hire drivers November 9
People who want to make money driving vehicles for a living should be trained to do so safely, says Kristine Hubbard, and it was a mistake for Toronto to have cancelled driver training in 2016.
“The training requirement we’re talking about today was voted on by the council in 2019, in response to multiple fatalities caused by rideshare drivers who were licensed without training. We’re calling for this training to be implemented before any other drivers are licensed. This is what our community wants to see,” Hubbard, who is Operations Manager at Beck Taxi, told a video-conference meeting of the General License and Standards Committee on October 20, 2021.
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