Province outlines plans for ride-sharing services in Alberta

The Alberta Government has established a plan for ride-for-hire companies to operate in the province and says it strikes an appropriate balance for everyone under a common framework.

The new plan hopes to address safety concerns and create a regulatory structure that would be fair to ride-sharing and traditional taxi operators.

An interim insurance product has been approved by the Superintendent of Insurance for July 1 and all ride-for-hire drivers will require a Class 4 driver's licence or better.

“There’s a lot of details that need to be worked out in terms of how the insurance actually works in certain circumstances and so on. What we’ve done is taken the time to do due diligence to make sure that there’s no loop holes, that, in fact, if a passenger is injured in an accident involving an UBER vehicle that the insurance company is not going to be able to say ‘well you’re not covered because of this loop hole’ so that’s what we’ve been doing to try and make sure that this product actually protects passengers as well as drivers and other people using the road,’ said Transportation Minister Brian Mason.

Mason says he received a written request from UBER on January 22 that asked for a change in the licensing requirement.

“They requested that we eliminate the requirement of a Class 4 licence and replace it with a Class 5 licence, which is the type of driver’s licence that almost all drivers have. We’ve reviewed UBER’s concerns and we want to stress that our priority is public safety for passengers, for drivers and for other users of the road,” said Mason.

The province says the Class 4 designation is mandatory for commercial passenger transportation in most provinces in Canada and that the road test is more rigorous and less forgiving.

“Commercial drivers have a responsibility for their passengers, which requires the appropriate level of skill and road knowledge,” said Mason. “People who are being transported as paying passengers also have to be sure that they’re safe and to know that the drivers that they’re accepting a ride with are safe.”

The government says the rules will be enforced across the province and drivers will also be subjected to an information check by police.

“It includes past convictions and charges, pending charges and court appearances, as well as other information from local police data bases that demonstrate a pattern of behavior representing a risk to public safety so it goes quite a bit deeper,” said Mason.

He says the plan is quite consistent with the Calgary bylaw that was passed earlier this month.

For more information on licensing, click HERE.