It’s a long and winding road to real
The concern for commuters is that B.C.
The Kater
On the surface, the Surrey-based company is going to provide a service similar to what ride-hailing juggernauts
But the BC NDP twist is that Kater is also going to be confined to operating much like traditional taxi services in that it will be restricted to licensed regional boundaries.
Both restrictions run counter to
So Kater will be, as Ridesharing Now for BC CEO Ian Tostenson has pointed out, more an addition to the taxi pool than an alternative to it or major competition for it.
As the standing committee’s report concludes, that is not what the market wants.
It wants what Uber-style ride hailing promises: more flexible and timely service and the potential for cheaper fares, especially in outlying areas of urban
Taxis provide a valuable community-based, taxpaying service, but they are only one piece of a complex transportation network, and they cannot lay claim to the entire transportation network services market, regardless of how much political weight their industry lobby might have in Victoria.
The taxi industry, as with most others in the 21st century, faces enormous digital and mobile technology disruption. It can’t stall in the face of that reality indefinitely, because the market will get what the market wants, and it wants more car-for-hire options.
B.C.
