Yesterday, City Council reviewed a newly revised version of the Vehicle-for-Hire bylaw. The bylaw would make Edmonton one of the first Canadian cities to allow private transportation providers, like Uber, to operate on our streets.
City Administration had incorporated Council’s previous input into the new proposed bylaw and it was now at Council for further deliberation. The draft is intended to allow the City to bring Uber and others like it into the regulatory fold and begin to better define the important role of the taxi industry in Edmonton. The Mayor has heard from Edmontonians that they want more transportation choice in the marketplace and that the City should not impede innovation. That is why Mayor Iveson and Council referred the bylaw for more work at yesterday’s Council meeting “I understand the eagerness to bring it into effect, though I'm certain that there would be a number of unintended consequences,” said the Mayor. “I do not think this bylaw is ready.”
A balance needs to be struck between the fees private vehicle-for-hire operators pay and what a minimum pricing model could look like. The Mayor has suggested that the aim should be to provide the taxi industry with more flexibility to set their own pricing, something that will be explored this spring during engagement with the industry.
Issues related to the licence fee structure and how it needed to take into consideration the part-time and temporary nature of many private transportation operators were also issues raised by the Mayor, and one of the main reasons he pushed for referral. “Referral sends a strong signal,” Mayor Iveson said in his closing comments. The referral motion passed and the bylaw will come back to Council in January 2016.
Follow the proposed Vehicle-for-Hire bylaw changes at: http://www.edmonton.ca/…/licences_per…/vehicle-for-hire.aspx
