After being stuck for several seasons, Uber has finally been given the green light to roll out in Kelowna and Victoria.
The long-awaited decision was released in the Passenger Transportation Board’s weekly newsletter and followed up with a comment online by Uber on Wednesday.
In a brief statement, officials at the ride-hailing service said they would “launch soon” and that more information would be coming in the near future.
“Today the PTB announced their approval of our licence transfer application, which will enable the same safe affordable and reliable rides in Victoria and Kelowna that are currently available in the Lower Mainland and across 140 municipalities in Canada,” reads the statement.
The company added that tens of thousands of local residents have already signed up to ride.
Uber submitted a request to the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) in late August 2022 to take over the licence of ReRyde, a ride-hailer that was granted a licence to operate in areas outside of the Lower Mainland in August 2020.
At the time, company officials said that the expectation was that the service would be up and running by Christmas, offering holiday revellers a safe option to travel.
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That didn’t turn out to be the case and it appears that it’s due to the significant volume of blowback, according to the decision published online on Wednesday. It notes that 40 groups including taxi companies and other ride-sharing operations, some of which were accompanied by legal counsel, voiced their opposition to the applications.
Whether they were in Victoria or Kelowna, one of the main issues was that the inclusion of Uber in their markets would cause negative economic repercussions.
Several opposed groups opted to try and scuttle the company’s entry by arguing that the ReRyde licence being transferred should be cancelled, cutting off Uber’s chance to have it authorized.
Ultimately, however, that point of view didn’t gain traction.
“The board acknowledges the concerns of some of the opposing submitters about the potential negative impact of a large company like Uber on the rest of the passenger transportation business,” reads the 60-page decision.
“While the board is of the view that it does not have authority under the act to refuse to grant a licence to an otherwise fit, proper and capable transferee absent exceptional circumstances, the board does have authority under the act to amend terms and conditions of a licence during the transfer process.”
Of note, it said Uber is bound to operate in the main cities in their operational areas, namely Kelowna and Victoria, for the next three years and if it does decide to branch out it will have to provide the Board with at least three months’ notice.
During that time, the board will consider whether the terms and conditions should be amended.
Several years ago, the PTB gave Uber the green light to operate in the Lower Mainland, but rejected its application for Kelowna and Victoria, saying it wasn’t “convinced there exists a public need for the service applied for.”
Mayors for both cities endorsed the service when the application announcement was made, collectively citing increased road safety and job opportunities as well as increased benefits to tourism operators.