Ride-sharing gets regulated in Toronto
Yesterday, Toronto city council sat down to put an issue the city has been dealing with for years to rest. New regulations will finally make ride-sharing AKA Uber legal in the city.
The new regulations for private transportation companies (PTC) such as Uber were highly debated and amended before they became something that the majority of the council could vote for. According to CTV News, the final vote count was 27-15. Far from being a close call, but that is still a long ways off from a unanimous decision. It’s clear that despite the bill going through, many of the city’s leaders aren’t happy with the regulations as they are.
That could be because of sections Mayor John Tory dropped from the bill that would have further evened the playing field between taxis and Uber, but would have caused the PTC to leave the city.
The amended bylaws include the following rule changes:
- The minimum fare for UberX will be raised from $2.50 to $3.25 to match the minimum for regular taxis.
- Taxis will be able to implement surge pricing just as Uber does in order to keep revenue competitive.
- Vehicles used for ride-sharing and taxis will be required to use winter tires from
- Drivers documentation must be submitted to the city for approval including a copy of their driver license, insurance information, and vehicle inspection reports.
The new laws do a good job of addressing the main concerns people have with Uber’s business model, while skipping the implementation of extra fees that Uber was opposed to. While many taxi defenders will be quick to point out that this is unfair, as they won’t have to pay exorbitant prices to rent or buy a taxi license, the city will continue to review the system to see if they can make things fairer for the taxi companies.