'We are literally the only place that doesn't have it': Uber releases video targeting Vancouverites
Uber is making its case as to why it should be in Vancouver.
In a newly released commercial, the company focuses on Vancouverites who are frustrated that the service is still not available in the city.
“I mean there have been times where I have been trying to flag down a cab and because of my location they have zipped passed me,” says one woman in the video, which has since been viewed over 100,000 times on Facebook.
“It’s just always embarrassing sometimes to say ‘no, we don’t have this here,'” says another woman.
“I think Uber desperately does want to be in Vancouver. Since they first tried to open up shop in 2011, they have had a presence in Vancouver,” Benn Proctor, a Master’s graduate from Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy, tells Daily Hive.
Vancouver still waiting for Uber
Vancouver is now the largest city in North America that does not have Uber.
According to a recent survey released by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT), 80 % of its members wanted the province to introduce new regulations to enable ridesharing services.
Despite the demand for rideshare, Vancouver City Council decided unanimously in October to keep rideshare services like Uber out of the city for at least another year.
See also
- Uber won't come to Vancouver for at least another year, votes city council
- Vancouver now the largest city in North America without Uber
- Bring Uber and Lyft to Vancouver, say huge majority of local businesses
Vancouver Councillor Geoff Meggs also brought forward a motion to extend a year-long moratorium on issuing new taxi licenses until October 2017, meaning that Uber has no chance of coming to Vancouver until then.
“To me, it is just delay tactics by the politicians,” said Proctor. “And politicians have so far sided with the local Vancouver taxi firms.”
‘Bad reputation for city’
For Proctor not having Uber in Vancouver is damaging for the city as a whole.
“I think it sets a bad reputation for Vancouver as a city. Friends and people who have come in can’t believe it doesn’t exist in Vancouver,” said Proctor.
“All across the world, we know rideshare has been a successful experiment.”
In Uber’s latest video, Vancouverites also share the same sentiments.
“Even Edmonton has Uber,” says one man in the video.
Uber is encouraging those who want to see the rideshare service in Vancouver to visit ubernow.ca, and contact Premier Christy Clark and the BC government about bringing Uber to the city.