The night Uber came to town
Following nearly six hours of discussion last night, and after hearing from 30+ speakers, City Council’s Executive Committee passed the following set of motions:
1. That Administration work with the Transportation Network Companies* to provide a report, before the end of the third quarter, to include a draft bylaw that would establish public safety rules and regulations for the operation of Transportation Network Companies.
2. That, in parallel with the work in Part 1, Administration work with the Taxi Industry to provide a report, before the end of the third quarter, with a draft bylaw to amend the Vehicle for Hire Bylaw 14700 to provide for improved taxi service standards, and with recommendations for issuance of additional taxi plates.
3. That, in the meantime, Administration request that UBER temporarily suspend operation in the Edmonton market and if they refuse, Administration take all steps necessary to apply for an injunction against UBER to prevent unlawful operation in Edmonton until such time as UBER complies with the applicable City of Edmonton bylaws.
4. That Administration work with the taxi brokers to obtain data from dispatch systems on number of taxis dispatched at given times, wait times for taxis, and other information relevant to allow for determination of appropriate customer service standards and expectations.
* ‘Transportation Network Companies’ (TNCs) is industry-speak for companies like Uber, Lyft, Sidecar etc.
There is no question that the taxi industry is an industry in need of significant reform. We’ve heard it from passengers, we’ve heard it from Uber-lovers and we’ve even heard it from taxi drivers themselves. Yesterday’s motions open the door to exploring new options for how we deliver vehicle-for-hire service in Edmonton.
We want to be more data-driven on the Taxi side, both to understand how effectively customers are being served and how much supply we’re short during high-demand periods. This would give us some data to support creating more supply (by adding more taxis) or to consider regulating a space for TNCs to take up some or all of that additional demand. In other words: before next winter, we could work with TNCs like Uber to facilitate lawful operation, or we could add more taxi plates, or a mix of both.
No matter what, changes to support better service will be the outcome.
I have been accused/championed as a nerd in the past, partially because of my love for technology and all the day-to-day benefits it can provide. In principle, Uber is a wonderful concept. But as a Council, we can’t simply ignore the fact that Uber exposes both driver and passengers to unnecessary risk, operating as they do outside the law. Comments from Heather Mack from the Insurance Bureau of Canada resonated with Council: Uber drivers risk voiding their own insurance policies by operating as a commercial vehicle. This is a huge risk not only to them and to passengers, but to others on the roadways. That risk was a compelling concern for Council and TNCs need to be able to demonstrate adequate insurance to be lawful.
Last night’s motions give reasonable time to sort through some of these complex questions. In the meantime, we’re asking Uber to suspend operations in our City and work with us to find a legal solution for Council to consider this fall. It’s our duty to make sure our rules — as they are written today — are respected; we’d ask the same of any business operating in Edmonton. Anything else would be a double standard, and we should all expect our government to be consistent and fair.
Thank you to everyone who emailed my office, tweeted me or sat through a very long Executive Committee meeting to discuss this important policy question for our City.
Soooooo frustrating!
I’ve used uber in half a dozen US cities in the last year and never had a problem. Quite the opposite actually. I’ve never been cheated, driven ridiculous routes, waited any length of time, or felt threatened by any of the Uber rides I have taken. Including Uber rides I have not called in, but actually flagged down off the street. They’ve even provided bottled water and breath mints, and almost always lower fares. To be honest, I would thankfully pay more for the service I’ve repeatedly received from Uber in the past.
In a city that seems to be consistently short on taxis, I really don’t understand the threat. I don’t drive and takes taxis weekly. I live downtown and it is not uncommon to be quoted 20-40 minute wait times, any day, any time.
$60 for a taxi one-way from downtown to the airport… equally questionable & absurd. I think that price can only be rivalled by Heathrow. Even the fare from Reyjkavik isn’t that high. It’s insane!
In a city with our winter temperatures and potentially bad roads, wait times for a taxi shouldn’t be 30-60 mins or more. It makes no sense.
In my opinion, it almost promotes drinking and driving. Especially on weekends and over holidays.
When I travel to any other major North American city, I PREFER to use Uber as my mode of transport. It is incredibly easy to arrange a pick-up and the drivers are always, courteous and friendly.
I am disappointed that we have not eagerly embraced Uber to our city.
This is so disheartening. The service Uber provides is far superior than any form of public transportation Edmonton currently has. I feel that the city of Edmonton is taking a huge step back when we should be moving forward with a city of such consistent growth.
Dear Don,
I want to share some thoughts with you being a Mayor of the city, think that the solution to the problem requires multiple steps, 1, brokers to improve their online/app service to show estimated time or arrival and the option to pay with credit card in advance through the app to meet the uber completion and if possible apply the supply and demand pricing with a minimum and maximum %. 2. Issue more plates in the city to meet the demand for the growing city like edmonton. 3. Have brokers increase their call takers during peak hours. 4. Allow only one person to drive cab, no multiple drivers, no multi-plate owners. There are people who are involved in other trades but hold a taxi plate as a side business to earn extra money, all required is to login for 4 hours for a few days out of the year to continue holding the licence plate(s).
Owners can fire and hire drivers based on their liking alone, zero job security for drivers, rent is outrageous, almost every cab driver has to work 12 hours six days to make both ends meet.
City has issued plates that are allowed to work at EIA with a permit. Those cab drivers and owners are not effected by Uber since they only work at airport and uber drivers don’t have a permit to pick up fare at the airport. The driver who drives in the city and more specifically drives at night in the city is getting effected the most because uber drivers are par time drivers and work after their day time jobs are done. For that reason the night shift city driver is in a bad position, although he pays the same rent as morning shift. The night shift driver should be charged less rent as an incentive to drive nights.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Umar
You provide a well written and reasoned explanation for the motions passed. Thank-you.
I understand that proper governance takes time to develop, but 6-9 months in the world of high-tech is an eternity. May I suggest that we adapt our legislative practices to better suit this faster moving world? Else we might risk being left behind as a city and region by the many coming disruptive technological and societal innovations.
Thanks again for sharing your thinking.
Good call. Uber will be very good for the public and hopefully will prompt reform of taxi companies’ operating practices. But Uber cannot operate unregulated. We can’t depend on a rating system to ensure that a vehicle for hire is roadworthy or that a driver is not a criminal. Nor can we give Uber an exception to the laws just because they seem to be a nice company.
Working with TNC’s to create regulations permitting their operation must be a priority as the public is becoming increasingly fed up with traditional taxi service, and it is frustrating to see the solution to our problems just outside our grasp.
It is unreasonable for the City of Edmonton to expect UBER to stop operations in the city while the city allows for the Taxis companies to provide more comparable services to UBER. When Uber is more reliable, quicker responses times, friendlier drivers, doesn’t discriminate & less expensive than taxis.
I use UBER all over the USA when there on business and have never had a safety issue or concerns and pleased to see it in Edmonton. I began using the UBER service when it arrived & will continue to do so. I have not taken a Taxi since, and similar to most UBER patrons continue to recomend their services to others.
Thanks for posting this Mayor Iverson. I do have to say, however, that I’m much more in favour of letting people decide how they get around rather than government protect an existing industry over an emerging one.
So why not in motion 3 just say Uber (and other TNCs) must comply with Alberta Transportation regulations of commercial taxi insurance and class 4 licences and let them operate until third quarter 2015. By not doing so you give taxi companies an extra year to hurt Edmontonians including the deaths caused by drunk driving by not having adequate cabs. AB regulations are fine for most municipalities as it is. they should be fine for Uber in the meantime instead of an injunction or shutdown.
This is totally insane! I have live in Edmonton virtually all my life and the cab companies are very unreliable. I have been told numerous times that I should “call another cab company” because there have been times where my location was not at the heart of downtown. When cab companies are not reliable and the city bans other alternatives to transportation, what other options are there? It seem that being an “up and coming” city that going this direction is the opposite way we should be going, don’t you think?
Awesome. Perhaps the city of Vancouver can learn from this as they just flat out said ” no way” and cratered to taxi association demands with utter disrespect for citizens transportation needs. Seems to me there is better vision in Edmonton than in Vancouver governed by a council that allegedly has ” vision ” in its party name.
Mayor Iveson – Is there any chance the data you collect from the taxi industry might be made available (in detailed, but anonymized format) through the Open Data catalog? This would be a very interesting dataset for us data nerds in the city, not to mention the educational value of the data to some post-secondary institutions in town. Please feel free to contact me if you want more information.
Why isn’t Uber being required to provide data on their rides? Why is Uber still operating illegally and law enforcement has done nothing? If the taxi industry is in bad shape, why hasn’t the city tried to clean it up, as it’s your Chief Licensing Inspector that signs the taxi permits? How will the city regulate Uber when it is clear that the city has failed, and this was pointed out by a judge recently. Is Uber a real high tech company or a bandit taxi company with an app? Can everyone in Edmonton now start picking up fares for a fee as a private car service, with no proper lincence or insurance? I take taxis and the only problem I have found with drivers is that they talk on their phones. Uber drivers are playing with their phones and tablets all the time.