Vanc-Uber Needs to Become a Reality

Metro Vancouver’s laws against ridesharing have us trailing other metropolises.

Having been on exchange in Vienna for a month now, I can say that one of the highlights of living abroad is the opportunity to sample products that are not available to you back home. For me this product has been Uber, a service that’s become a lauded transportation innovation in many cities around the world.

But not in Vancity.

Uber’s a company that’s fascinated me ever since it was blocked from expanding to Vancouver in 2012. Maybe it’s just human nature to want what you can’t have, but it’s always bugged me that I’ve been kept away from a new and interesting product which could potentially make getting around town a little easier. Needless to say, once I was out of the Lower Mainland it wasn’t long before I found myself in the back of an Uber cab.

The trip itself was everything I expected. I pressed a button, a driver came to me. He didn’t speak much English but that didn’t matter much as all the relevant info was communicated through the app. It cost a little less than I’d expect from a cab, and was refreshingly more convenient than anything I could get in Surrey.

So why in Vancouver do we still have to call a taxi company by phone like cave people? Vancouver was originally to be Uber’s first Canadian city in 2012, until the company found itself unable to work around Metro-Vancouver’s archaic web of taxi regulations. In Vancouver there’s a limited number of taxi licenses allowed at one time and as a result Vancouver has the lowest number of taxis per capita of any Canadian city, as reported by BC Business in 2014.

Attempts at reforming the policy to allow ridesharing companies to operate within the city have been met with formidable opposition from lobbying groups representing B.C.’s taxi and limousine industries. This is hardly surprising, since the current system has made taxi licenses extremely valuable and created a monopoly-like situation to the benefit of license holders. This lack of competition may be good for the established taxi industry but it’s terrible for the consumer who is stuck with both an inferior product (at a higher cost) and an industry with no incentive to offer a better service.

Of course, there are many who argue the laws that keep Uber out of Vancouver are in place for good reason. The common claim from detractors of Uber, and similar companies such as Lyft and SideCar, is that a ridesharing system wherein anyone with a suitable vehicle can be a driver will inevitably result in abuse, and ultimately create an unsafe environment for the consumer.

The thing is, the dystopian scenario predicted by ridesharing naysayers hasn’t come to pass in any of the 300-plus cities these companies currently operate in. One of the benefits of an app-based system is that ratings can be seen for any individual driver before hiring, which makes it easy to weed out bad drivers. The fact that metering is controlled by Uber rather than drivers makes overcharging virtually impossible. Sure, there have been instances of problems with Uber, as there have been with any transportation system, but overall the company has received glowing praise and ever-growing popularity.

Also worth mentioning is one not-so-insignificant side benefit. Ridesharing programs have been shown to save lives. A study conducted from 2009 to 2014 at Temple University in Philadelphia  found a 3.6 to 5.6 per cent decrease in deaths related to drunk driving in cities where Uber operates. Who would have thought that having an affordable and reliable ride at the push of a button would make getting behind the wheel after a few drinks less tempting?

It’s also important to consider that the traditional taxi industry isn’t always a shining beacon of quality or safety in itself. Anyone who has used a taxi more than a few times knows how inconsistent the experience can be. Even in a city like Vancouver, with its supposedly strict regulations, everything from unsafe driving to unclean conditions to abuse of the metering system in order to overcharge citizens are not uncommon occurrences. The inconsistency of the taxi industry is a big part of the reason companies like Uber have become so popular in the first place.

Now, please don’t mistake me for an Uber advertising executive. I just lament the fact that of the hundreds of cities all over the world that Uber has operated in, Vancouver is the only one that the company has had to pull out of. It’s time to put pressure on our officials to change that.