Late last week Toronto councilors voted 32-12 in favour of ordering Uber to cease ride sharing in Toronto until the Licensing and Standards Committee can review and revise the current rules that govern taxis and limousine services. The report is aimed at finding a way to integrate apps like Uber into the current city by-laws.
The six-hour debate, that was partially televised on local news stations, had pro-Uber counselors face off with councilors who want Uber eradicated from the Toronto transportation landscape. Both sides left with a sense of accomplishment — proponents were assured in knowing that Uber would be introduced into the city’s transportation grid, meanwhile opponents had an immediate sense of victory because the ride sharing app has been forced to shut down until next spring, when the report from the Licensing and Standards Committee is due for release.
Following city council’s vote, Ian Black, Uber Canada’s general manager, immediately said it would not comply with the city-wide stoppage and would continue to offer rides to Torontonians. Complying would have larger implications than the six months Uber would not be allowed to operate. If Uber is forced to adhere to the same regulations that govern the taxi industry, the approximately 16,000 GTA-based Uber drivers would be unable to work with or for the San Francisco-based company due to lack of taxi driver permits.
Mayor Tory, who has been a long standing supporter of Uber, grew tired of the company’s openly defiant attitude. Tory told the Toronto Star, “While it still won’t be easy to close them down, I can tell you right now they will have lost me as a supporter,” Tory said. “I don’t believe it is then an act of good corporate citizenship; in fact I think it’s exactly the opposite, for them to turn around and… give us the one-finger salute again.”
Earlier this summer Uber won an Ontario court case when Judge Sean Dunphy found the company is not a taxi service. Uber viewed it as an affirmation of their long held belief they are a communications company and not a taxi brokerage. Uber opponents believe they won due to an obsolete regulatory code that doesn’t reflect our modern technologies.
And while Toronto is the center of the world to us, Uber is having major problems in cities all across Canada and around the globe. In late September, Uber’s offices in Amsterdam were raided by police, looking for evidence that Uber provides illegal taxi services. Governments across the world are demanding Uber provide detailed insurance information and driver background check evidence, and much like in the case of the Toronto city council motion, Uber has refused to comply.
Uber is ever growing proof that our technology is outpacing our ability to create legislation to regulate and mandate the innovations we are creating. At the root of this issue is not Uber’s existence, but the fact that city council needs another six months to create a report for an industry that first set up shop in 2012. The suppression of Uber won’t rid ride sharing apps from popping up, and the 400,000 reported Toronto UberX users from finding each other virtually.
In an effort to help cabbies compete with Uber city hall also voted to reduce cab flat fees by one dollar. Hardly the solution Toronto commuters were hoping for.
