For some reason, B.C. seems to be behind the times when it comes a lot of things that are no-brainers everywhere else. Take for instance our restrictive archaic liquor laws, or the recent botched rollout of legalized marijuana sales. It looks like that鈥檚 the case again with the NDP鈥檚 flawed plan to allow for ride-sharing in B.C., announced last week. It鈥檚 disappointing, but predictable.
Currently, B.C. is the only major jurisdiction in North America that doesn鈥檛 allow ride-sharing. This is bad news if you like to partake in the occasional adult beverage and get home in a safe and timely manner. It鈥檚 also really bad news for the craft beer and tourism industries in this province, which contribute tens of billions of dollars to our economy.
You can hardly blame the NDP for this one, though. The B.C. Liberals had five years to make ride-sharing happen and they did absolutely nothing. So I suppose the NDP should get some credit for actually doing something, but unfortunately what they鈥檝e done isn鈥檛 very helpful.
Under the proposed legislation, ride-sharing likely won鈥檛 become legal until late 2019 or early 2020 鈥� almost a year and a half from now, which is ridiculous. Additionally, , which totally defeats the purpose of an on-demand service such as Uber or Lyft. The province plans to eliminate municipal boundaries for taxis 鈥� which is great 鈥� but they also plan to continue the practice of arbitrarily limiting the number of available taxi licences, which is very not great.
鈥淚鈥檓 bewildered, honestly,鈥� says Ken Beattie, executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild. 鈥淭hey are putting rules in place that aren鈥檛 used in any other jurisdiction. We鈥檙e no further ahead than we were two years ago, or seven years ago.鈥�
Beattie says the lack of ride-sharing options is having a negative impact on our tourism industry as tourists who visit B.C. expect to be able to use services like Uber or Lyft. Instead, they鈥檙e stepping off a cruise ship or an airplane and are faced with hours-long waits for a taxi.
In particular, Beattie says the continued practice of capping taxi licences and the potential capping of ride-share operators does nothing to solve the frustrating lack of transportation options.
鈥淚t makes no sense to place caps on the number of cars allowed in the area,鈥� says Beattie. 鈥淚f you have properly licenced, insured drivers, with extensive security and screening, why would you want to restrict that?鈥�
As a result of our government鈥檚 failure to legal framework for ride-sharing services, have begun popping up all over Metro Vancouver.
I, for one, rarely venture outside of my immediate neighbourhood on a Friday because getting around late at night without a car is a massive pain in the ass. I鈥檇 love to hit up a show downtown, but the thought having to wait 45 minutes to an hour in the pissing rain while cabs pass by me because they don鈥檛 want to take me back to the 鈥檅urbs is usually enough to convince me to keep my 30-something ass at home. And the money I would have spent at local businesses instead gets spent on collectible porcelain figurines on eBay. Don鈥檛 judge me. They鈥檙e adorable.
But more so than an economic issue, this is a matter of public safety. , and studies in the U.S. Mothers Against Drunk Driving have long advocated for ride-sharing as a way of giving people a safe ride home after drinking.
If you鈥檙e wondering why our government seems incapable of making ride-sharing happen in an effective, timely manner, it could be due the fact the taxi companies don鈥檛 like the competition that ride-sharing presents. And those taxi companies donate a crazy amount of money to our politicians.
In the past three years, taxi companies across the province donated close to $100,000 to the B.C. NDP, as well as more than $50,000 to the B.C. Liberals. And that鈥檚 just at the provincial level. In the run-up to the 2014 municipal election, cab companies and taxi associations donated close to $120,000 to various political parties and candidates, in 麻豆传媒映画alone.
The taxi companies might win, but the rest of us lose.
