Companies like Uber and Lyft on track to apply to Passenger Transportation Board

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said her government is still on track to have ridesharing companies apply to the Passenger Transportation Board by this fall.

Speaking to the Surrey Board of Trade, Trevena said this week a legislative committee is hearing from witnesses as it deliberates on “some” regulations.

She blames the previous Liberal government for ridesharing taking so long to get to B.C.

“We are making up for effectively five wasted years to get this happening,” Trevena said.

Karen Reid Sidhu with the Surrey Crime Prevention Society said that’s not good enough.

“I can tell you my son is a police officer in the Lower Mainland who’s 25 and tries to get back to his home in south Surrey I would like to ask the minister why it’s taken this long for us to even consider Lyft or Uber.”

Sidhu said she’s concerned for the safety of everyone when only transit and taxis are available.

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Meanwhile, former transportation minister Todd Stone is raising questions surrounding the agreement allowing ride-hailing app “Kater” coming to B.C. taxis.

“We want to get to the bottom of what exactly is the nature of any discussions and potentially arrangements that have been loosely or not so loosely formed between the NDP government and NDP insiders such as a number of people associated with Kater,” Stone said.

The Vancouver Taxi Association has struck a deal with Kater, a Surrey-based tech company, to use its app-based technology in some taxis.

Trevena was asked if the NDP government will order Kater to hold back and launch with Uber and Lyft at the same time.

“Everybody has to follow the same rules so anyone working on app-based ride-hailing will have to follow same rules,” Trevena said.

She added regulations won’t be in place until this summer and the insurance model isn’t likely to be in place until the end of the summer with ride-hailing companies possibly operational by the fall.