The issue of ride sharing as an alternative to taxi cabs has made its way to North Bay City Council.
Staff have been directed to prepare a report on the matter, and make recommendations based on its findings.
For his part, North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says ride share is welcome in the city.
“There’s no regulations to prevent them from coming. I think the police chief and the chair of the police services board was very clear. There’s no question we are open for business, and if somebody wanted to start a ride share program tomorrow, they can,” said McDonald.
The taxi by-law currently falls under the police services board.
“The Ontario supreme court ruling said that ride sharing doesn’t fall under the taxi by-law. So really, it is nowhere. The police services board is doing their review, so council just wants staff to bring back a recommendation,” said McDonald.
“And the recommendation could be, 'why don’t we leave it with the police services board to do the public consultations and they come back with recommendations,' and/or our staff can say 'listen, we’ll do the study ourselves and bring back a recommendation.'”
McDonald says if staff recommend doing a full study as the police services board is doing, it could take months to complete.
“But if the police services board is already partway down the road, it makes sense to leave it there. And that includes limousines too because nobody is talking about limousines. The police services has already done a lot of that study, so we’re hoping to see it in June, but they still have to consult with the public and all the stakeholders to bring back a recommendation,” said McDonald.
The mayor also noted that ride sharing is not regulated when it comes to pricing.
“There’s a fee, I don’t know how they determine it, but they can charge whatever they want. So, the question becomes what happens on the taxi side? That’s why we’re waiting for the report to come back.”
Councillor Mark King has been in discussions with people on both sides of the issue at the local level.
“Obviously the owners of the cab companies and the people who work for them are extremely concerned. I think there is a way of doing this. I think it is absolutely imperative when the plan finally unfolds, that it is fair. It has to be a level playing field for all involved, whether you’re a private taxi company owner, or you’re a driver for Uride,” said King.
“I did speak with the Uride proponent from Thunder Bay this week to get a handle on what it would look like. I fully expect him to be here at council when the final report comes forward, to explain their side of the story. As a small business person, it is tough when these really massive changes take place in our community, and you have to feel for those people. Obviously, it is not something that is easy to handle.”
Anthony Campigotto who created the local Facebook ride share page explained that one of his reasons for raising the issue is the promise of growth and innovation for the city made during the municipal election campaign.
“This fits that bill, in the case of providing new jobs for ride share drivers and bringing a new company here. But also, through that service, increasing the business that our community businesses that are in town already have, such as bars, restaurants and of course all the other great things community members can rely on it for.”
Campigotto says there is a way for ride share and the taxi industry to work together.
“You can’t name me a place where ride share exists, and taxis do not. To me it is not the idea of just getting ride share in, it is about saying let’s create an even playing field and let’s have those two businesses work together. Even if we weren’t going for ride share, I would say that the onus then becomes for the taxi or cab industries to up their game or just innovate their own services to meet the types of services that cabs and taxi companies in other cities are offering.”
In a previous interview, John Strang owner of U-NEED-A-CAB said approximately 200 people work in the local taxi industry.
Strang was quoted as saying “We are vehemently opposed to a ride share operating in North Bay.”
He went on to explain, “We are regulated by the police service board to ensure safety and protect consumers. There are only 85 taxi licenses in the city, and we have made a tremendous investment in our city. To bring something new in is dangerous, and the volume is simply not there at most times.”
The mayor raised the issue of rider safety.
“From my perspective, my only concern is that people are safe. So, putting my mayor’s hat on, if you get into any vehicle, I would like to see that there are police checks done, that the appropriate insurance is there, that the cars are safe. When you talk about regulations, that is what I’m thinking.”
In the interim, Campigotto is prepared to wait for change to happen.
“Ideally, living in a perfect world, I’d love to see something like this is operation over the summer. But if it takes until fall, that is still within 2019. I understand that sometimes things take time to change, as long as they change, that’s what matters.”
