Metro Vancouver’s TransLink Mayors’ Council has passed a motion to fast-track a regional business model for ride-hailing companies.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum was the sole dissenting vote.
McCallum said he opposed the motion because a large majority of Surrey residents oppose ride-hailing.
“I have been out in the community,” said McCallum. “We ran a campaign about a year ago, we had many many interviews or talks with our residents.”
The council will now create a working group tasked with hammering out the details of a region-wide business licence for ride-hailing companies, including what they would pay as a licensing fee.
The goal is to have the licensing regime in place by the end of next year.
Under provincial regulations, individual municipalities have the authority to regulate business licences for ride-hailing companies.
That has created a fractured regulatory scheme.
The Tri-Cities created a three-municipality licence with a single per-fleet fee. That’s compared to the City of Vancouver, which is charging a fee of $100 per vehicle, and the City of Burnaby which implemented a $510 per-vehicle fee.
Industry advocates say they worry the complex and costly system will discourage ride-hailing companies and drivers from stepping forward to provide service.
It remains unclear when the first ride-hailing vehicles will actually get on the road.
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