A company in Victoria has been granted a ride-hailing application for the Okanagan.
Lucky To Go Technologies has been approved to operate in the Lower Mainland, Whistler, Capital Regional District, Vancouver Island, Okanagan-Kootenays-Cariboo, and B.C. North Central.
“We intend to start our services in the CRD (Victoria) area and we will be expanding accordingly to Vancouver and the Okanagan,” said Mandeep Rana, Lucky To Go’s owner.
Rana told Global News on Wednesday that he expects services to begin in Victoria, by May.
“Within the next few months we should be operational in the majority of British Columbia,” said Rana.
Rana says his company is still in its infancy stage and they’re having trouble hiring drivers.
“We had a lot of applicants, it’s just that, because we need the class four licence as well as the criminal record checks,” said Rana.
“Those two offices, ICBC and RCMP, are not operating at full capacity to be able to service these drivers.”
While Rana has plans for Kelowna, he says offering ride-hailing services to the rest of the Okanagan is a possibility.
“We’re going to start in Kelowna, based on driver supply we might reach out to other regions,” said Rana.
Rana says they will be working closely with provincial health officials to make sure their services will be as safe as possible, for both drivers and clients.
“Drivers and clients will both wear masks, our drivers will sterilize the car between every customer.” said Rana.
Lucky To Go will be a unique ride-hailing service as they will also offer delivery services, according to the company.
“Our app is designed to do ride-hailing, grocery delivery, and even custom deliveries,” Rana said.
Custom deliveries could be any goods from any location, according to Rana.
On Wednesday, B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board announced that it had completed a review of five recent ride-hailing applications, giving the green light to three while red lighting two.
Of the three, two were seeking just to operate in the Lower Mainland and Whistler, while the other was seeking across-the-province permission, which it was given.
The Passenger Transportation Board has decided to approve the applications of:
- LTG Technologies Ltd to operate in Region 1: Lower Mainland, Whistler; Region 2: Capital Regional District; Region 3 – Vancouver Island, excluding CRD; Region 4 – Okanagan-Kootenays-Cariboo; and Region 5 – BC North Central & Other Regions of BC.
- Metro Burnaby Rides Inc to operate in Region 1: Lower Mainland, Whistler
- Hich Ride Sharing Corp to operate in Region 1: Lower Mainland, Whistler
The board has refused the applications of:
- 1st Choice Cabs Ltd to operate in Region 5 – BC North Central & Other Regions of BC.
- VAHIDI, Rezagholi to operate in Region 1: Lower Mainland, Whistler
The decisions were made after a careful review of the materials received during the application process, according to the board.
The Board has received a total of 35 ride hailing applications to date and with today’s announcement has issued decisions on 28 of them.
This is the second approved ride-hailing application for the Okanagan.
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