Innisfil partners with Uber to create transit system

Uber to provide public transit in Innisfil The Town of Innisfil is partnering with Uber to create a public transit system. CTV Barrie's Mike Arsalides reports.

Innisfil is partnering with Uber to effectively create a public transit system.

The town has signed a deal with Uber to give its 36,000 residents guaranteed rates and rides at the touch of an app.

“It's the first partnership that Uber has with a Canadian municipality,” says Paul Pentikainen, Innisfil’s policy planner. “It's a way of looking at alternate transit more cost effective than running buses.

Under the agreement, fares will be set between $3 and $5. For example, a trip to the closest GO bus stop on Yonge Street would cost $4.

It's a cheaper solution than creating a bus system. Uber drivers feel it'll catch on.

“I anticipate a slow start, but I also believe that by the end of the summer, it's going to be crazy busy,” says driver Jeff Wilton.

But the outlook isn't so rosy for local taxi drivers.

"How am I going to compete with $3 from here to Innisfil Beach Road?” says Manjot Saini, owner of Global Taxi. “I'm losing a lot of money.”

The taxi industry has been fighting Uber in other communities. Innisfil taxi drivers share those concerns, having to already pay higher insurance and for commercial space to park.

“It's not fair to the cab company, to the drivers, to all the cabs around. Uber is destroying the industry,” Saini says.

The town says it will still rely on the taxi industry for "accessibility" cabs, but drivers say that's only a small portion of their business.

“My drivers will stick with me, but for how long? That’s the question because everyone needs to make money.”

The program comes into effect on May 1. In the time being, the town will be rolling out tutorials and training sessions for staff and residents on how to use this new public transit system.