The B.C. government is delivering on its commitment to bring ride-hailing to B.C., with regulations in place that will focus on passenger, driver and company safety, and will allow companies to apply to the Passenger Transportation Board by the beginning of September 2019.
All regulations will be in force on Sept. 16, 2019, to support full implementation of ride-hailing services after the board decides on the applications it receives.
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Citynews.ca: Ride hail firms can apply to operate in B.C. Sept. 3, ahead of late fall launch
Bowinn Ma, who heads an all-party committee that deals with ride hailing, says the service could start by year’s end, while a Transportation Ministry bureaucrat says the companies could be approved to operate as early as Sept. 16.
CBC News: Ride-hailing to hit B.C. streets by September, province says
Today, Ma said the board will start assessing licence applications in early September with the final regulations coming into effect Sept. 16.
Application processing time will be anywhere from two weeks to a month, the ministry estimates.
“We fully expect that people will be able to hail a ride through this new industry — the Transportation Network Service industry — by the end of the year,” said Ma in a teleconference.
Daily Hive: BC Government to officially start accepting rideshare applications this September
Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA Bowinn MA said the regulations “do not determine, supply, boundaries, and fare rates charged to passengers.”
Those matters, she furthered, “are the exclusive responsibility of the the independent Passenger Transportation Board.” Decisions on those topics are expected “this summer.”
Vancouver Sun: B.C. Government says ride hailing services can operate starting Sept. 16
“The requirement is not negotiable for to us, safety is of utmost responsibility. And we believe that it is our responsibility as the government to ensure that any public consumer service like this is held to a standard that they can rely on and trust in,” Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, said during a media call Monday.
CTV News: Uber in B.C.: One-on-one interview with MLA Bowinn Ma