Michael Sanders has pulled as many as 15 cabs from his transportation fleet at Aaron Group in Greater Sudbury in recent weeks. Sanders, who also had to lay off 40 to 50 drivers, points to the entrance of Uber into the local market as the main reason for the cuts. Aaron Group is one of several cab companies in northern Ontario speaking out about a pilot program that allows rideshares like Uber to operate in the region. “We can’t continue when such a large segment of the market is being predatorily priced,” Sanders told CTV News. A month ago, the Ministry of Transportation put the Provincial Rideshare Framework into place. The one-year pilot program is meant to connect 79 communities with the yet-to-be-launched Northlander passenger train. The pilot also includes Sudbury, which is not located along the rail route. Sanders said the policy was hastily implemented and erodes stability for taxi companies, who are required to comply with municipal bylaws. “(It) puts us at an unfair footing from a provincial level, which is very hard to fight because the province has the authority to write rules as it sees fit,” he said. ‘Blindsided’ by the province “Municipalities are really just creatures of the province ... We weren’t consulted. We weren’t permitted any input into the process.” “We were blindsided by the provincial government,” said John Strang, owner of U-Need-A-Cab in North Bay. Strang told CTV News he hasn’t seen an impact yet, adding that the Northlander hasn’t launched, either. He does foresee a hit to revenue in the near future. “When we have competition that doesn’t play by the same rules, it makes it very difficult,” Strang said. He is especially concerned about driver and vehicle requirements within the framework, since, he said, it puts customer safety at risk. “We’re bringing 18-year-old kids up to northern Ontario with no experience … and we’re putting them in the back roads of northern Ontario in the wintertime to move people to and from a train,” Strang said. “It makes absolutely no sense.” Most municipal taxi bylaws require drivers to provide a clean driving abstract and a criminal record check. The vehicles are owned by the cab company and must pass yearly inspections. Under the pilot framework, rideshare drivers must have a valid driver’s licence with no suspensions. Driver-owned vehicles can’t operate unless they have passed a mechanical inspection within the last 13 months. The full list of regulations can be found here. “For us, the regulations truly are just the baseline and that we’ve built on top of those,” said Laura Miller, head of public policy and communications at Uber Canada. Miller said rideshare rides don’t always start and end within the same municipality. She also emphasized that the Uber App provides “a seamless experience” across the country. “Again, the same kind of experience that folks have with Uber in 700 communities across the country is the same experience that they’re having in northeastern Ontario.” Along with Uber, the only other rideshare company that has permission to service the 79 designated communities where the framework covers is Uride. Uride founder and CEO Cody Roberto told CTV News they’re focusing on fast pickup times and excellent service while emphasizing the company’s northern roots. “We’re also just seeing a tonne of support for Canadian companies, especially during this period with everything going on with the trade war and all that stuff,” Roberto said. “People want to support Canada -- they want to support Canadian companies.” Both Aaron Group and U-Need-A-Cab have been operating in their respective markets for decades and both owners say they’re disheartened the provincial government “rolled out the red carpet” for an American-owned company. “At the end of the day, I think it’s truly about giving residents a choice,” Miller said. But taxi owners argue they have extra costs connected to municipal requirements that rideshare companies do not. That’s what’s creating uneven pricing. In an email to CTV News, the Ministry of Transportation said the agreement with Uber “is an important step toward expanding access to transportation services in rural, remote, and northern communities.” “The framework is intended to support municipalities without rideshare frameworks by addressing gaps in transportation availability that affect access to employment, education, health care, essential services, and address first/last mile gaps along the Northlander corridor,” the statement said. “The ministry engaged with the taxi sector during development of the pilot phase and continues to meet with taxi and other industry representatives to better understand their perspectives and operational considerations.”
