Uber Review

Many thanks to Victor Ngo for sending along his report on Uber, the ride-sourcing service, which he prepared for the City of Vancouver.
The taxi industry is a highly-regulated business in most places, and not universally loved.  Their markets have been protected via territorial awards, and “closed-entry” systems in the form of licensing (“medallions”) that restrict the number of available taxis. There are also intimations that owners and middlemen reap the profits while drivers earn little. On the other hand, the regulations and control are aimed at passenger safety.
But new technology and new thinking has appeared on the scene. And there is a large powerful context to this societal change — the “sharing economy”. Bike-sharing, car-sharing (Modo, Car2Go, Evo), AirBnB and so on. These are all relatively new, and are enabled by technology, as is Uber and its competitors.
It seems to me that when new technology and new thinking meets old industries, noisy stuff happens. And this is certainly the case with Uber and traditional taxis. Competition is often a good thing, but it can be disruptive, and sometimes old-thinking businesses fall by the wayside. Say, Kodak and Blockbuster — how’s the view down there?
In this world, Uber is the gorilla, hence it is the focus of this study.  Due to the City and Province sharing regulatory responsibility, dealing with Uber is a dilemma for both.
It appears that a popular policy option for regulators is to create a new category — “Transportation Network Company” —  which allows for flexible control while helping promote innovation. This by no means universally adopted, and other options exist.
But back to Mr. Ngo’s report:

Ridesourcing is a form of transportation that provides
on-demand vehicle for hire services, where passengers
“source” rides through a mobile smartphone-based
app from a pool of private passenger vehicles, typically
driven by non-professional drivers who use their own
personal vehicles for ridesourcing activities. Uber, Lyft,
and Sidecar are the major ridesourcing/ridesharing
companies in North America.  . . .
. . . . Taxis are an important part of Vancouver’s transportation
system for both residents and visitors. By providing a
flexible alternative when walking, cycling, and public
transit are not options, they help to fill a gap and reduce
dependency on the private automobile. In Vancouver
and most North American jurisdictions, the taxi industry
has historically been highly regulated.
However, new technological innovations in the form of
ridesourcing services are disrupting and transforming
the taxi industry, which is prompting a reconsideration
of existing taxi regulations.

Executive Summary Infographic

The full report can be found HERE.
Victor Ngo is a graduate student in the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. Victor’s work focuses on urban sustainability planning and design, drawing on interdisciplinary and participatory methods to transition cities and communities to become more socially and environmentally sustainable.