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Uber in Waterloo Region
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Uber in Waterloo Region
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 ![[Image: logo-sprite@1x.b18e0844e061b2723a838a062d0810a1.png]](https://d1a3f4spazzrp4.cloudfront.net/web-p2/images/signup/logo-sprite@1x.b18e0844e061b2723a838a062d0810a1.png){kind=icon} Hot off the presses from mpd618's twitter: Quote:Aha. Here's the @Uber sign-up page for drivers in Kitchener-Waterloo. The not-a-taxi-by-the-strictest-definition company appears to be looking to open up service in KW. 
10-07-2014, 10:22 PM
Wow, never thought I'd see Uber in KW, if that ever comes true
10-08-2014, 11:38 AM
I've been wondering about Uber. What's the typical trip Uber trip length in other cities? Does K-W have the kind of geography where several people in one location are interested in sharing a taxi to another location? Is the typical Uber driver a commuter interested in making back their gas money, or an independent driver who principally drives? It will be interesting to see how the legislators and insurance companies react to this. How many people read all of the terms and conditions before they click "I agree"?
I know from my various cab rides that I've taken that, at least from a cab driver's perspective, business is frequently very slow. Conversely, a taxi license in very expensive (though I can't find the Regional figure at the moment). Incidentally, here are the tally of taxi cabs, with the Regional ratio 1:1650 residents: Number of Licensed Taxi‐cabs Taxi Company 2 Accessible + 85 Regular = 87 Golden Triangle Inc 3 Accessible + 73 Regular = 76 Kitchener City Cabs 5 Accessible + 78 Regular = 83 United Taxi 5 Accessible + 72 Regular = 77 Waterloo Taxi 8 Regular A‐1 Waterloo Taxi (Elmira) 2 Regular New Hamburg Taxi (Sorry, I can figure out linking, so these figures come from http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/doingB...xiCabs.pdf) 
10-08-2014, 04:03 PM
I heard something about two drivers in Ottawa being fined $650 after payment was received. I assume the issue is that they need a taxi license and that number and issuing is regulated. I also remember something about an issue in Vancouver.
I assume the Region of Waterloo and the local cab companies will fight back. They have certain peak times like Oktoberfest. Almost impossible to get a taxi on a weekend later in the evening. University students can also use up all the taxis on the road. On the weekend around the university area it is a sea of taxis. Good luck getting one at certain times. Although a couple of taxi drivers I have talked to curse university students. They get sick in the taxi or run off without paying. One driver said if someone gets sick I demand $200 or I get a credit card upfront. Not sure if that's legal. So you are out drinking on the weekend and try to get a taxi. You can wait, give up or do the wrong thing and drive yourself. So there is an issue with service during peak times. Uber can fill that service gap.
10-08-2014, 07:59 PM
(10-08-2014, 04:03 PM)rickhd Wrote: I assume the Region of Waterloo and the local cab companies will fight back. It should be a given that the taxi companies will fight back. They have a nice little supply-management system going. But I don't think it's a given that the Region will support them. Given that it's election time, consider asking Regional Council candidates what models of taxi licensing and regulation they would support. Personally, I'd maybe like to see GRT operating taxi service. 
10-08-2014, 10:12 PM
(10-08-2014, 10:12 PM)ookpik Wrote: They already do to an extent: MobilityPLUS MobilityPLUS is a very specialized, very low volume service. (10-08-2014, 10:12 PM)ookpik Wrote: Why do you think they could compete successfully with the incumbents and/or the likes of Uber? I think it's kind of silly to have the Region fix the prices and then hand out a very limited quantity of licenses to taxi companies and drivers that meet no particular standards. GRT could actually have some standards, consolidated dispatch, and would be able to use taxi data to determine where transit needs improvement. I'm not sure where Uber fits in. It makes sense to have a guaranteed standard of quality and service (e.g. municipally-operated, or highly regulated) or a crowd-supported reputation model (e.g. Uber, Lyft). Regular taxis in Waterloo Region are neither.
10-09-2014, 08:21 AM
Ride-sharing service Uber coming to Waterloo Region - Kitchener-Waterloo - CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-...-1.2793343 nothing new in the article 
Is Uber in Toronto too? I'd certainly welcome a better ride-sharing alternative to taking Greyhound.
[edit] It is. Toronto-KW has pretty similar reverse commute patterns to San Francisco-San Jose people who want to live in "the city" but commute out to tech jobs in the 'burbs (10-09-2014, 06:19 PM)dunkalunk Wrote: Is Uber in Toronto too? I'd certainly welcome a better ride-sharing alternative to taking Greyhound. Am I missing something? Uber is basically a pared-down version of a taxi. Or rather, UberX is, which is all they're hiring for. It's still going to be super expensive to use to go from KW to Toronto.
10-10-2014, 12:05 AM
Yeah... my understanding is that Uber isn't a "ride-share" in the expected sense of the term, any more than Chapters could be considered a "book-share".
It's all just Uber's way of fighting the terminology war; they aren't breaking taxi laws if they aren't a "taxi"
10-10-2014, 02:32 PM
It'll be interesting to see if they'll get enough usage here to make it worthwhile.
01-20-2015, 02:45 PM
Regional Councilor Sean Strickland has been in the news talking about Uber in Waterloo Region. Local taxi drivers have complained that making more licences available will reduce the value of their licences, some of which cost $300,000 to purchase. Since the Region regulates the licences, they could be on the hook if they dramatically reduce the value of the licences. Would it be in the Region's best interest to buy out every licence and then re-issue cheaper licences based on a new fee model?
Why?
The taxi drivers are whining that their retirement savings are tied up in a single $300,000 license whose artificially inflated value is threatened by Uber. They chose to put all their eggs in one basket. They could have leased or rented someone else's license and invested the money they would have used to buy a taxi license in a more diversified (less risky) set of assets. This is like someone at RIM/BB who put all their retirement savings into their company stock who complains that it's now lost 90% of its once whose artificially inflated value and is calling for government to make them whole. Or someone who put their retirement savings into a condo apartment during a construction boom who later complains that it's lost half its value when the building bubble eventually bursts. Dumb moves. Their responsibility. BTW this problem with city issued limited edition taxi licenses isn't unique to this region. It's common to large cities from NY to Chicago to Toronto to Vancouver. None of those cities are taking the taxi whiners seriously either. Uber’s success signals need to fix flawed taxi systems in Canadian cities New York City Taxi Medallion Prices Keep Falling, Now Down About 25 Percent |
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