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Councillor Uber-concerned with potential of new rideshare service in town

THUNDER BAY -- A possible new taxi-like service in the city has at least one city councilor concerned.
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(Jodi Lundmark, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- A possible new taxi-like service in the city has at least one city councilor concerned.

Uber Taxi, a ride-sharing company, operates through a smartphone application that uses GPS to match users with nearby taxis and private cars; the company is looking to establish itself in the city according to the Facebook page Uber Thunder Bay.

Red River Ward Coun. Brian McKinnon, also the chairman of the tax sub-committee, said his main concern with the service is that unlike a regular taxi service, Uber is unregulated.

“They don’t have licenses per se. Nobody is there to check on the mechanical fitness of the cabs. Many of these Uber cabs are simply private people who get a phone call that say ‘be at such and such a place, pick the person up.’ I don’t even know if they have personal liability in the cabs or in those cars,” he said.

“If there is an accident, are you the passenger covered? Is the taxi driver or Uber driver covered? I don’t know. Those are really important issues.”

Uber started in San Francisco and has expanded to 200 cities worldwide including Toronto and Montreal.

Uber Thunder Bay group administrator Brandon Kearney didn’t return a request for an interview with Dougall Media, but on the group's Facebook page posted that he is committed to bringing affordable and safe ground transportation to the city through the Uber app service.

They are also looking for people who want to work as Uber drivers.

Kearney states Uber is needed in Thunder Bay because of the city’s high cab fares and long wait times; he also says the city’s transit system isn’t reliable.

“I feel Thunder Bay is ready for a next generation service when we think how "taxi's" should operate,” he writes.

“All we need is some interest from people who want to drive, and people who want to ride this service to make Uber a possibility in our city.”

McKinnon said he hasn’t heard from the existing taxi companies yet on how they feel about the possibility of Uber setting up shop in Thunder Bay, and he acknowledged cab fares are expensive here.

But that is something that will hopefully be addressed in the new taxi bylaw that is still in the works.

Last year council approved moving the licensing and regulation of taxis from the police to the city and that decision meant an overhaul of the taxi bylaw.

The taxi sub-committee has one more meeting on the bylaw this month and then McKinnon said they have to finalize it on paper before bringing it to council.

 





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