The District of Kent will be putting in its comments on the future of ride sharing in B.C., after receiving a letter from province asking for input from municipalities.
“When you look at transportation needs in the community, we don’t have a lot of services other than your public transit,” Wallace Mah, CAO for the district, said during council Monday (Jan. 14).
“During Christmas time, if you want to hail a cab, you’re not going to get a cab outside of Harrison Hot Springs Hotel. Or if you need a ride in Agassiz to go out to a rural area, you’re not going to be able to hail a cab,” he continued.“I think you’re giving people options. You have seniors in the community who are not able to drive in the dark, and it gives you an option to have a transportation unit like Uber in the community.”
Mah added that providing comment to the province doesn’t cost the municipality anything, and could be beneficial if ride sharing services did eventually come to Agassiz.
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The district will only be allowed to comment on a few items, including what criteria should be considered when creating boundaries, how regulations can balance supply and demand, what fare regulations will balance affordability and profit, and what class of drivers license should be required for operators.
“I don’t know why the province wants to reinvent what Uber’s doing, or any other ride service,” Coun. Duane Post said during council. “But … I would like to see this service come, not specifically to this community, but to the province as a whole.”
District staff will be preparing comments for the province by Feb. 1.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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