A Council vote one week from Tuesday will finalize London’s new vehicle for hire by-law, as well as Uber’s future in the Forest City.
The ride-sharing company has vowed to leave London if city politicians rubber stamp last week’s vote to require cameras in Uber vehicles.
London would be the first city in the world to force Uber drivers to install cameras.
Ward 6 Councillor Phil Squire opposes installing cameras in Uber vehicles.
“If you’re talking to my constituents, yes, they don’t want Uber leaving,” he said. “A lot of the student population, they use Uber, they like Uber, they like the technology, they want to continue to use it.”
Council has accommodated almost all of Uber’s demands as staff have worked to regulate both traditional cabs and ride-sharing companies under the same by-law.
City politicians approved fee changes proposed by Uber, and will allow the company to use surge pricing, but a vote of 7-6 last week could see cameras installed in all vehicles for hire as a safety measure.
Taxi companies, many of which also have apps that help passengers arrange a ride through a smartphone, have been forced for years to have cameras installed.
Nearly 1,000 Uber drivers are currently operating illegally in London, and the company is refusing to help their drivers pay for the cameras since many work part-time.
Council will vote on the by-law on February 14th.
Councillor Squire hopes the company doesn’t leave London.
“Uber is now the number one business expense in the world, and that means it surpassed Starbucks, in other words every business executive that goes anywhere in the world uses Uber,” Squire said. “They’re going to come to London and they’re going to go on and they’re going to say, ‘where’s my Uber?’ and we’re going to say, ‘we don’t have Uber’ and we’re going to be the only jurisdiction like that.
London, however, would not be the first city Uber has threatened to leave.
The company pulled out of Calgary in early 2016 after initially calling their by-law ‘unworkable’ but returned to the city in December.
City Hall hopes to have new rules governing all vehicles for hire in London in effect by the end of March.