Count the mayor of Port Coquitlam as a converter to Uber.
“It was really a phenomenal service. I quite enjoyed the customer service, the ease, and that I didn’t have to worry about transacting money at the end of the ride,” said Greg Moore, who is also chair of Metro Vancouver.
“I actually found it better than a normal taxi. I knew who was going to pick me up…and at the end of it, I didn’t have to pay, worry what a tip was going to be, it was all done on the back-end.”
It’s his enjoyment of the ride-sharing service – while outside Metro Vancouver – that has him questioning why it can’t come to his municipality.
READ MORE: Uber and City of Calgary kiss and make up, agree to work together
“I got off transit, I needed a taxi to get to where a bus wouldn’t go, and the guy wouldn’t give me a ride…I called him on it, and said ‘it’s because you’re waiting for people to go to the airport?” he said of a recent experience in Vancouver.
“And he finally admitted he was waiting for a longer fare, and he wouldn’t give me my eight dollar fare to where I had to go.”
WATCH: Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore discusses how his city is joining the growing chorus of several British Columbia communities that want to allow Uber cars on the road.
Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam city councils have recently asked the province to reconsider rules that effectively ban Uber from provincial roads.
“With this new sharing economy, whether it’s AirBnB or Uber..we have to look at how our old laws were created for old ways of doing things, and how we can adapt or change them into a new future,” said Moore.
But that could take time. The provincial government has said for months that it’s studying the matter with a plan to move forward, one that would protect the public’s safety and the business interests of existing cab companies – but there’s no word when, or if, the government will make a decision.
And while suburban politicians are more enthusiastic about Uber, politicians in Vancouver and Surrey have been lukewarm on pushing through reforms until Uber promises to abide by provincial insurance regulations.
Taxi drivers have also held protests in cities across Canada against Uber – but Moore isn’t exactly sympathetic to their arguments.
“The taxi industry needs to get caught up and change and move with the times. the taxi industry should look at how Uber is doing things.”