City fees to use ride-hailing in downtown Vancouver could increase

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The cost to use Uber and Lyft within the Metro Core — the area that encompasses the downtown Vancouver peninsula and Central Broadway — could go up starting in the new year, including for late-night trips.

Last month, City of Vancouver staff outlined proposed various fee hikes to Vancouver City Council, including increases to ride-hailing Congestion and Curbside Permit Fee within the Metro Core.

City Council approved City staff’s recommendations as inputs for developing the municipality’s 2024 draft budget, with the various fee hikes primarily intended to help reduce added pressure on raising property taxes.

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Currently, the ride-hailing fee is set at $0.30 per pick-up and drop-off, or $0.60 for end-to-end trips within the Metro Core. For draft budget purposes, City staff have received City Council’s preliminary approval for increasing this fee to $0.45 per pick-up and drop-off ($0.90 end-to-end within the Metro Core) in 2024, and $0.60 per pick-up and drop-off ($1.20 end-to-end within the Metro Core) in 2025.

By 2025, the fee increases will result in $3 million in additional annual revenue for the municipal government.

For ride-hailing vehicles that use zero-emission car models, such as Tesla battery-electric vehicles, the 50% fee reduction will be unchanged.

However, according to Uber, City staff are looking to not only increase the flat-rate per trip fees but also widen the window of the duration of the applicable fees within the Metro Core.

Currently, the ride-hailing fees within the Metro Core apply between 7 am and 7 pm. Uber says City staff are proposing to lengthen the window from 7 am to midnight — an additional five hours.

When inquired by Daily Hive Urbanized, the City says the fee structure changes will be presented to City Council in December, coinciding with the 2024 budget discussions.

Uber asserts these fee increases and the lengthened applicable duration through midnight could result in tens of thousands of fewer trips, adding to what are already the highest ride-hailing fees in Canada.

According to Uber’s ridership data, Vancouver ranks as the top eight “partying cities” in Canada, based on the percentage of riders in a city who take the most trips over the late night/overnight period from 10 pm to 2 am. Vancouver is behind Regina and Edmonton, but ahead of Ottawa and Kingston. London and Toronto top the list.

In a statement, Jane Talbot, the president and CEO of Downtown Van (the local business improvement association), says, “Now is not the time to make it more difficult to come downtown.”

Talbot says the increase in the Metro Core’s ride-hailing fee “could easily have long-term damaging effects on the downtown Vancouver economy and public safety,” and particularly impact “those who are looking for a safe ride home after work or a night out.”

The move is also opposed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

“Independent research shows that cities that have affordable rideshare options have seen a decline in impaired driving. This increase in fees will make people choose to take their own vehicle when going out,” said Dawn Regan, COO for MADD Canada.

Separately, the provincial government is currently in the midst of conducting a detailed review of ride-hailing and taxi services. A report on findings and potential policy change recommendations is expected in Spring 2024.

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