MONTREAL – With tensions rising between Uber and the taxi industry, the pressure is on municipal and provincial governments to find solutions.
Montreal taxi drivers have been protesting the ride-sharing service, shutting down streets and blocking access to the airport.
Some have even gone as far as smashing the phone of an Uber-driving cabbie.
Drivers claim the ride-sharing service is against the law and is eliminating their jobs, but that didn’t stop the City of Edmonton from legalising the service.
READ MORE: Edmonton paves the way in Canada for Uber
This puts the ball into the court of the provincial governments to figure out their stance on the issue.
For now, Quebec has agreed to call a parliamentary commission to look into Uber’s entry into the marketplace.
Quebec’s Transport Minister Jacques Daoust warned that “disruptive technologies” like Uber are probably here to stay, but that a solution has to be found.
Christopher Nardi, a journalist at the Journal de Montréal, sat down with Senior Anchor Jamie Orchard to discuss his first-hand experience working as an undercover Uber driver for a week.
“Just in my first day, I was really stunned to notice all the clients are really young,” Nardi said.
“I can count on my two hands the number of clients I had over 30.”
He believes the demographic of Uber users reflects the service’s low price and convenience, since students were his biggest clientèle.
He mused that the large attraction to Uber could mean the future of transportation may very well be ride-sharing services rather than the conventional taxi system.
WATCH: Montreal taxis fight Uber
Nardi revealed many Uber drivers feel threatened by their taxi counterparts; passengers will often sit in the front seat or retrieve their own luggage from the trunk to “look more subtle in case taxi drivers are on the hunt.”
“They’ve developed tricks actually so that they kind of pass the test when taxi drivers are looking for them,” he said.
Nardi noted passengers even refrained from checking their phone too often while waiting for an Uber driver to avoid detection.
Despite the possibility of threats, he said Uber will pay any tickets or fees incurred upon drivers, including impounding charges if a car is seized.
Based on his experience, Nardi said Uber tries to make it very appealing for drivers to join the service, having no signup fees, no set schedules and no extra insurance required.
On the other hand, becoming a taxi driver in Montreal requires licenses and permits, as well as 150 hours of training.
The Commission des transports du Québec estimates the average cost of the permit at $189,180.
Taxi drivers claim it is unfair that their jobs are being taken by ride-sharing services and autonomous drivers who don’t have proper permits.
All the same, Nardi foresees change and modernisation in the taxi industry following Edmonton’s legalisation of Uber, and insists the question is not if it will be legalised in Quebec, but when.
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