Child missing in Uber prompts staff meetings
Colle’s motion directed L&S to consult with industry, improve system
Licensing and Standards staff have met with Vehicle for Hire (VFH) firms to discuss improving driver contact policies in the event of emergencies, and plan to meet with Taxi firms next.
“City staff are currently meeting with vehicle for hire industry stakeholders to assess the best way to address the City Council direction from April 2025, which asked staff to advise Council on City actions that could require vehicle for hire licensees to take greater accountability to directly assist customers and law enforcement in emergency situations,” Senior Communications Advisor Elise von Scheel wrote Taxi News in an email on August 7th.
“These industry-wide conversations have been held with operators like Uber, Lyft and Hopp, and next steps will include meetings with the taxi industry.”
On March 10th, 2025, an Uber driver inadvertently pulled away from a customer’s home with a 5-year-old girl asleep on his back bench. Toronto Police Service spokesperson Stephanie Sayer stated that police they did not receive help from Uber. Neither Uber’s call centre nor Uber Corporate would provide TPS with the driver’s cell phone number due to privacy concerns, so TPS released an all-cars bulletin to track down the Uber driver in the city’s west end. The little girl was found unharmed, however, media including People Magazine covered the distressing incident.
At the April 24 Toronto Council meeting, Councillor Mike Colle introduced a motion directing staff to develop an improved policy around Vehicle for Hire emergency communications with police; as part of the motion, staff were also directed to consult with VFH industry members on how the system can be improved.
On June 26th, Canadian Taxi Association president Marc Andre Way wrote Toronto’s L&S department asking that the CTA be included in the consultations:
“I am writing with regard to the Vehicle for Hire industry stakeholder consultations which were directed to be organized on April 23, 2025 as part of Councillor Mike Colle’s motion to update Toronto’s emergency contact system for firms providing Vehicle for Hire services.
As a leader in the Taxi industry, Way says, “…We are hard at work developing new and improved emergency contact, vehicle identification and industry standards. These are being designed to make our Vehicle for Hire systems safer for consumers and more efficient in terms of collaborating with police services and government agencies.
In addition to effective use of traditional technologies including:
- Roof signs and lit domes;
- Municipally-issued numbered plates; and
- In-car security features, such as security cameras;
We are researching and developing:
- RFID sticker technology;
- Digital electronic identification; and
- Enhanced driver verification systems.”
In addition to suggestions around improving VFH emergency communications protocols, Way wrote, “It was a mistake to let existing ‘Taxi Advisory Committees’ lapse in cities across Canada when rideshare was legalized. He suggests the Advisory Committees should be re-constituted, involve rideshare firms like Uber and Lyft
“In addition to using mechanical, digital and administrative options to improve passenger safety and security, the CTA is also very much in support of returning to the previous ‘Advisory Committee’ activities which were once standard practice in Canadian municipalities. For example, Toronto’s previous ‘Taxicab Advisory Committee’ (TAC) format could be expanded to include representatives from the wider variety of service providers as a ‘Vehicle for Hire Advisory Committee’ (VAC).
We all work with the reality that technology advances very quickly, and traditional legislative systems are hard-pressed to develop a regulatory framework for novel and emerging services. Standing VAC meetings on a predictable schedule would help industry and government work together most effectively to keep passengers safe and consumers protected.”
