Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By Simon Little / Global BC

Ride-hailing

Uber, Lyft given green light to operate in B.C.’s Lower Mainland

Jan 23, 2020 | 11:50 AM

VANCOUVER — The world’s two largest ridesharing companies are coming to the Lower Mainland.

B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) has granted licences to Uber and Lyft to operate in the Lower Mainland and Whistler, the area known as “Region 1” under the province’s regulations.

But the PTB refused to grant a permit in any part of the province for Kater Technologies, the taxi industry-backed ridesharing company that operated in B.C. from spring to December of last year.

It also rejected an application from ReRyde Technologies, which had sought to operate in the Victoria area, Vancouver Island and B.C.’s central interior.

“The decisions were made after a careful review of the extensive materials received during the application process which included supporting information provided by the applicants and submissions from interested members of the public and stakeholders,” the PTB said in a media release.

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Uber spokesperson Michael van Hemmen lauded the decision, but didn’t provide a timeline for when his company’s vehicles would hit the road.

“We hope to launch very soon, once we have obtained a business licence from the City of Vancouver and purchased insurance from ICBC,” van Hemmen said.

“In the meantime, we encourage all qualified drivers with a Class 4 licence to sign up on the Uber app at drive.uber.com so they can start earning money as soon as operations begin.”

In its own statement, Lyft said it was also working to secure the necessary municipal licences to launch.

“We are thrilled to have received approval from the Passenger Transportation Board and are excited to bring Lyft’s ridesharing service to the region,” said Peter Lukomskyj, general manager of B.C., Lyft.

“We’re working closely with municipalities to ensure we have our business licences in place to begin operating. Once those are approved, we plan to announce our initial operating area.”

The PTB is working its way through 29 applications by ridesharing companies, and has now approved three.

The only other company to get the green light so far is Green Coast Ventures, which has been approved to operate in the Lower Mainland, Whistler and Vancouver Island.