What happened: Provincial regulators have approved one more B.C. company for ride hailing
Why it matters: The Passenger Transportation Board has so far rejected a majority of the applications submitted to it
More transportation options are coming to Vancouver Island with another ride-hailing service getting the nod from regulators.
The Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) on Friday (May 29) approved an application from Powell River Taxi Ltd., granting it permission to operate throughout the island save for the Capital Regional District.
Powell River Taxi was founded as an owner-operated taxi service in 2000.
It has a fleet of six vehicles and is the only taxi service in the region surrounding Powell River offering 24-hour service, according to its application.
The company plans to launch ride-hailing services with five drivers with their own vehicles.
Meanwhile, the PTB also rejected an application from Khaled Abdulqader Omar Baoween (operating as Taxieh).
The regulator cited “significant concerns” with Taxieh’s application owing to no information provided on fleet size, vehicle growth plan or payment structure
“Of particular concern to the [PTB] is the lack of sufficient information in Taxieh’s application to show how it will provide ongoing active management of the vehicles and drivers operating in British Columbia,” the regulator stated.
Powell River Taxi is the 14th company the PTB has approved for ride-hailing services, joining the following organizations:
· Green Coast Ventures Inc., a Tofino-based company operating under the name Whistle
· Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER)
· Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq:LYFT)
· Richmond’s Kabu-Ride Inc.
· Garrindar Singh Parhar (operating as Apt Rides)
· Sechelt-based Coastal Rides
· MDD Transport Network Inc.
· Safe Ride Sharing Ltd.
· LTG Technologies Ltd.
· Metro Burnaby Rides Inc.
· Hich Ride Sharing Corp.
· Ripe Holdings Inc. (Ripe Rides)
· Bonny’s Taxi Ltd.
The regulator has received 41 ride-hailing applications to date, rendering decisions on 34 of them.
