Belcarra’s mayor says a regional ride-hailing licence is a cash grab and he won’t sign on to it.
Neil Belenkie said he desperately wants the service for his 700 residents but doesn’t support the inter-municipal business licence that is rolling out across Metro Vancouver, including Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, saying the requirement could deter people from being drivers.
Belenkie said he's afraid the $150-per-car charge could hinder people in his community or others from joining Uber or Lyft to pick up people when they leave the villages because it could take a while to make up the cost.
Instead, Belcarra will allow ride-hailing drivers to pick up and drop off customers within its borders without requiring any kind of business licence.
“I just want to make it as easy as possible for people in Belcarra to have improved service and improved safety that comes from not being stranded late at night,” Belenkie told The Tri-City News.
According to Belenkie, his community is poorly served by transit because buses don't run there late at night and the route through Anmore is long. Taxis aren’t a great alternative either, he said, because drivers won’t travel to the semi-rural community for fear they won't find a paying passenger on the return trip.
“We’re desperate for ride hailing as another way to help people to get out of their cars, not just for the environment, but as an efficient option,” Belenkie said, adding that he has heard horror stories of taxis dropping people off in Port Moody after a night out instead of making the trip to Belcarra.
Other cities see the inter-municipal licence as a way to streamline regulation for ride-hailing companies.
The inter-municipal licence will allow ride-hailing companies to get one licence to operate in 32 municipalities from Whistler to Chilliwack as well as Bowen Island. That approach was endorsed at the end of January by the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, with Belenkie the lone opponent.
Both Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam councils have given tentative approval to the licence, with Port Moody to consider it at its next council meeting.
The licence, which will be issued by the city of Vancouver and comes into effect April 1, costs each company $155 annually plus $150 for each vehicle. A licence for zero-emission vehicles will be $30 and there’s no fee for wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
But Belenkie says the province already has rules and fees in place to cover ride-hailing so the inter-municipal licence isn't necessary.
(In the fall, the province announced ride-hailing companies would pay a 30-cent-per-trip fee and a $5,000 annual licence fee.)
Many are clamouring for ride hailing in his community, Belenkie said, and he hopes some residents will sign on to be drivers to defray some of their transportation costs while providing a useful last-mile service to others seeking to use transit more.
He also wants people to know his opposition to the inter-municipal licence is not a position against ride-hailing. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, he told The Tri-City News.
“We are not adding new barriers or costs to ride hailing that are unnecessary and we are the most supportive by not adding another cash grab and regulatory hurdle.”
While the village council is not bringing the license forward for a vote, Belenkie said it could be brought forward in the future if councillors choose.
