The free ride for Uber drivers in Barrie may come to a screeching halt at the end of the summer.
City council is expecting a staff report this fall, that will recommend regulations for ride-sharing businesses including Uber. Regulations will be aimed at creating an even playing field with the taxi industry while protecting consumers.
“Technically right now Uber doesn’t meet our definition of what a taxi is,” Tammy Banting, Manager of By-law Services, told the corporate services committee this week.
“Much like the city of Toronto ran into when they attempted to enforce their bylaw, it wasn’t successful.”
The city’s taxi working group is tackling the issue and their recommendations along with draft regulations, will be included in a staff report to council.
“They are looking at it with respect to Uber, designated drivers, etc.”
Coun. Michael Prowse questioned if the discussions could be productive without representation from Uber on the working group.
“I have some challenges with … asking taxi drivers what they think of Uber and how we should regulate it. I can probably guess the outcome without going to the meeting,” Prowse said. “I’m not quite sure that’s the level playing field we are looking for.
"To not have all of the players at the table probably doesn’t serve us well.”
Banting assured the committee that Uber will be included in the discussions.
“We don’t have them sitting at the table, but we are reaching out to them from a staff perspective and coming back with that information to the group as a whole,” she said. “The staff report will include that input.”
Erwin Giles operates Barrie Taxi and he says he welcomes regulations for all ride-sharing businesses. He attended the committee meeting this week to hear what the city has in mind.
“There’s a concern whenever there is competition,” he said.
Taxi drivers pay $7,000 per year for insurance. Many Uber drivers operate without proper insurance coverage, and that's a big problem for riders, Giles cautioned.
“One of the main goals when Uber first started was to service an area that was underserviced. There’s no fear of not being serviced in Barrie because there are already way more taxis than we need.
“To have another person in that wants to walk like a duck and talk like a duck . . . It’s a duck.
“Don’t tell me you’re not a taxi service because you are taking people for money.”
He cautioned riders that cheaper service isn’t always better or safer.
Barrie Taxi has been operating in the city for 28 years and riders can use an online app to summon a ride.
There are currently about 70 cabs and 120 drivers. Drivers own their own taxis and pay dispatch fees in order to receive calls.
