BC government to perform detailed review of ridehailing and taxis

Uber, Lyft, and Vancouver Taxi. (Daily Hive | Shutterstock)

Nearly four years after major ridehailing companies were first approved to operate in British Columbia, the provincial government will begin its first major in-depth review of the services dominated by the giants of Uber and Lyft.

The Legislative Assembly’s new Special Committee to Review Passenger Directed Vehicles is now scheduled to have its public meetings in October and November 2023 in Victoria and Vancouver. There will also be virtual meetings and written submission opportunities as part of the public, stakeholder, and industry engagement process.

Not only will it review ridehailing services, but it will evaluate taxi companies.

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The committee is comprised of six members, with Maple Elmore, the BC NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, serving as the chair, and Shirley Bond, the BC United MLA for Prince George-Valemount as deputy chair.

Other members entail the BC NDP’s Richmond-Steveston MLA Kelly Greene, Burnaby North MLA Janet Routledge, and Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley, and BC United’s West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy.

“Committee members are interested in hearing from British Columbians, including those who operate, work for and use taxi and ride-hailing services. This is an important part of our overall transportation system and the input received will be vital in helping the committee learn about challenges and explore possible changes,” said Elmore in a statement today.

This past spring, the legislature stipulated the committee should review whether the current framework “promotes an adequate supply” of ridehailing and taxi vehicles, including accessible vehicles, and passenger and driver safety considerations, as well as impacts to public transit, traffic congestion, and the environment.

It will also examine how these services can be supported in smaller communities.

This Special Committee will report its findings and recommendations to the Legislative Assembly no later than May 10, 2024.

After years of review, debate, and controversy, the province’s independent Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) finally provided Uber and Lyft with the green light to operate in Metro Vancouver in late January 2020. Both companies have since expanded their service area across Metro Vancouver, with Uber also providing coverage for the western areas of the Fraser Valley.

The PTB’s latest publicly available data as of May 2021 shows Uber and Lyft quickly disrupted the on-demand, point-to-point transportation market; in just over a year after launch, Uber and Lyft’s combined total number of trips exceeded taxis by nearly 2-1. After more than two years of economic and tourism recovery, this gap has likely widened even further.

As of April 2022, over 11,500 vehicles across the Lower Mainland were licensed for ridehailing operations.

In early June 2023, Uber launched in Victoria and Kelowna from taking over an unused ridehailing license from an existing operator, after previously seeing its application to create a new license rejected.

According to Uber’s recent survey of their BC-based operators, people are choosing to drive or deliver with the company more than ever before due to sky-high cost of living issues, which are fuelled by housing challenges and inflation.

Uber saw its highest number of operator signups ever seen on the platform in BC and across Canada in the first quarter of 2023. Over two-thirds (69%) of those surveyed indicated rising cost of living was the main reason behind their decision to work with Uber or Uber Eats.

They suggest that Uber provides supplemental income to other work they are engaged in; 75% of drivers and delivery people in BC report that their work with the company has become more important in the past year due to rising cost of living, 63% said additional income provided by the Uber app allowed them to save more money, 57% said the app-based work helped them to make money in an emergency situation, and 91% of drivers and delivery people indicated schedule flexibility was important to them when choosing work, especially for those unable to access traditional forms of employment or whose schedule does not allow for more consistent work.

Uber previously indicated only 20% of their Metro Vancouver drivers work at least 35 hours — the equivalent of a full-time job. Seven-in-10 (71%) spend under 25 hours or less per week driving, including 46% less than 15 hours, and 21% between 15 and 25 hours.

The provincial government is in the early stages of considering changes to the regulatory framework that governs app-based work. In March 2023, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) released a report that estimated a reclassification of app-based gig workers could lead to a 20% to 30% price increase for ridehailing services, and up to $219 million in lost earnings for workers and a 70% reduction in the amount of app-based work.

Most people in BC who perform app-based work are supplementing their income and earn an average of $5,200 annually through such work.

According to GVBOT’s analysis, currently there are between 26,000 and 60,000 people across BC performing work using ridesharing or food delivery apps. If the provincial government were to change their work classification to mandatory employees, it is estimated the number of jobs on these apps would fall by 70%. It would impact 18,200 to 42,000 workers, result in median income losses of $5,200, and total income losses of $95 million to $219 million.

Ridehailing services would see price increases of 20% to 30%, along with fewer options to get around Metro Vancouver.

Prior to the rollout of Uber and Lyft in Metro Vancouver, the on-demand, point-to-point transportation market was completely dominated by taxis, which lacked the capacity to meet the significant demand during peak periods during major events and sports games, the peak season for tourism, and other busy periods of the year. The taxi shortage before the arrival of ridehailing also impacted the nighttime economy and public safety.

Uber also supports nighttlife businesses by providing people with a safe way to get home late at night. Nearly six-in-10 (58%) riders in Uber’s national survey indicated the service was the safest way to get home late at night, 81% of riders say safety is an important reason they choose to ride with Uber, and 48% of riders said without ridehailing services it would be very or somewhat difficult to find a safe way to travel at night.

As well, 77% believe options like Uber helps reduce drunk driving, with independent research suggesting it also reduces collisions and the number of physical and sexual assault arrests.

For taxi companies, a major sticking point is the continued existence of inefficient municipal taxi boundaries, with such municipal-based regulations on where taxis can pick up a passenger greatly hindering the ability for taxis to compete with ridehailing services.

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