Kingston council has taken its first step towards regulating ride-sharing companies like Uber in the region.
Tuesday night, councillors voted unanimously to have staff find ways to put Uber and taxi operators on a level playing field through city bylaws.
But in order to regulate ride-shares in Kingston, the city will have to move into the Kingston and Area Taxi Licensing Commission’s territory. Kingston is one of the only municipalities in Ontario, save North Bay, that regulates taxis through a commission separate from council.
Three years ago, the commission passed a bylaw regulating Uber drivers in Kingston, but it was shot down in a legal challenge.
“It failed due to the fact that the provincial statute that was created that allowed us to create the Kingston taxi commission would not allow us to extend our authority to cover ride-shares. So that put us in a bit of a dilemma,” said James Allan, chair of the commission.
Allan said unless the province gives the taxi commission purview over ride-sharing companies, it essentially has no power over Uber drivers. Instead, the commission has planned to work with the City of Kingston, Loyalist Township and Uber to see if local bylaws can be drafted that will regulate taxis and ride-share drivers equally.
When asked how they might find a compromise that will suit all parties, Allan said a solution could be found in other city bylaws, like the Vehicle for Hire bylaw created in Ottawa five years ago.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. We just want fairness within the industry so that the taxi people and the ride-share people are following the same set of rules,” Allen said.
As things stand now, Allan said taxi drivers are at a disadvantage to Uber drivers because they pay fees and taxes to operate in the city, while ride-share drivers pay nothing to work in the region.
“Our local cab drivers are concerned about Uber drivers flooding the area from the GTA, Toronto, Ottawa and primarily inundating the weekend business the tax drivers normally enjoy. This activity is expected to increase once the pandemic is resolved,” he said.
Allan said the taxi commission has fined seven Uber drivers for operating a taxi illegally in the city over the last several years.
All councillors seemed in favour of regulating ride-sharing in Kingston, except Coun. Peter Stroud, who asked if Kingston might be wasting time trying to regulate a company that will continue to operate as it pleases despite city bylaws.
“This is a provincial matter, so we might end up doing a lot of work on this and then find that the provincial laws change,” Stroud said.
In the end, Stroud said he “reluctantly” supported the staff recommendation after CAO Lanie Hurdle assured that other city projects would not be curtailed by the matter.
Coun. Bridget Doherty, who sits on the taxi commission as the Kingston representative, said Uber has expressed willingness to work with the city if it were to implement regulations.
“A lot of conversations have taken place since last year, and we are actually really pleased that we arrived at this stage,” she said.
In a statement sent to Global News Tuesday, Uber expressed support for the city’s plans towards regulation.
“We are encouraged to learn that the City of Kingston is moving towards a permanent solution that ensures safe, reliable, and affordable transportation options continue to be available across the region to those who need it.”