By Greg Fry

Kamloops MLA: Ride-sharing a fit outside major centres, too

Jan 9, 2018 | 1:52 PM

KAMLOOPS — Everybody knows there’s a big demand for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft in big cities like Vancouver, but a Kamloops MLA says the service could also work in smaller communities like Kamloops.

Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal MLA Peter Milobar is part of a nine-member provincial all-party committee holding hearings in Vancouver this week.

He says the province has tasked the committee with writing a report on the issue and submitting it to government next month.

“I think what we’re seeing and what we’ve heard from companies like Lyft is that the smaller communities, there’s a want for it in those areas as well,” Milobar says. “And sometimes two or three drivers can make a big difference if it’s an area that doesn’t have transit or a taxi service already. I think it’s a scaleable way of doing things, it’s really how do you come up with a legislative framework to enable it without totally undermining the taxi service at the same time.”

And like his party, he supports allowing such companies to operate, noting “I think we need to be realistic that at some point we will see it come forward. It’s really just a new way of taxi driving and taxi ordering.”

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Does he see legislation being passed this year to make ride sharing a reality?

“It’s up to the government. We had committed as a party in the last election that we would have had it implemented in time for the Christmas season in 2017 and I know the Green Party has been pushing for it for quite some time and the NDP has been quite resistant to move quickly on it to this point.”