Council votes to require Uber vehicles install cameras

London could soon become the first city to require Uber drivers install cameras in their vehicles.

It was one of several changes to the city’s new vehicle-for-hire by-law that were narrowly endorsed by Council Tuesday night following a heated debate.

Uber sent Council a letter on Monday suggesting that it could pull out of London if the city didn’t bend to their will when it came to certain fees.

Council did approve two changes to the by-law that Uber was on board with: increasing the brokerage fee from $20,000 to $50,000 and reducing the per ride fee from 26 cents to 11 cents.

However, Council also moved to require cameras in all vehicles for hire.

Council initially felt Uber vehicles didn’t need them, though cabs have had them for years, and the taxi industry has called for a level playing field to promote passenger safety.

The by-law changes were approved by a vote of 7 to 6. Councillor Jesse Helmer voiced strong opposition to requiring cameras in ride-sharing vehicles.

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“We do not have to insist that all vehicles have cameras,” he said during the debate. “It is not necessary to achieve the safety objectives that we’re looking for. We decided on this issue without knowing what the cost of those cameras will be, or having any evidence, any evidence at all, about whether this is safer or that is safer. It’s all anecdotal, it’s like ‘this bad thing happened, that bad thing happened.’”

Uber has suggested the cost of installing cameras is over $1,000 per vehicle.

Helmer suggested Council was moving in the wrong direction.

“We’ve been at this for like 18 months plus, and if we pass this by-law, what we’re going to end up with is the worst and least modern by-law in the province of Ontario,” Helmer said. “We’ve taken the longest to get here, and I think the outcome is going to be among the poorest.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We've been at this for like 18 months plus, and if we pass this by-law, what we're going to end up with is the worst and least modern by-law in the province of Ontario," Helmer said. "We've taken the longest to get here, and I think the outcome is going to be among the poorest."

Councillor Bill Armstrong voted in favour of the by-law, but wasn’t happy about it.

“I’m going to support this by-law, I didn’t support it at the committee, I’m going to support it now but I wish I didn’t have to support it because I really don’t think that we should be allowing this at all, that the laws that we had in place were perfectly fine,” said Armstrong.

It remains to be seen how Uber will respond to the by-law changes, which will be put to a final vote on February 14th.

If approved, the aim is to have the new by-law in place by the end of March.

Until the new by-law is solidified, Uber remains an outlaw company whose drivers face fines if caught by city bylaw officers.