In 2018 the BC government introduced legislation expected to bring ride-hailing to the province, but many questions remain about what that will look like in practice. One of the bodies responsible for working out the policy details is BC’s Passenger Transportation Board, an independent tribunal that has been handling passenger transport license applications from ride-hailing companies including major players such as Uber and Lyft.
CCPA-BC economist Alex Hemingway made the following submission to the Passenger Transportation Board in response to Uber’s and Lyft’s applications. The submission outlines concerns about the economic conditions and lack of protections given to drivers, the tendency of ride-hailing giants to form oligopolies, and the risk of large ride-hailing companies adding to congestion (and therefore to emissions, pollution and other large social and economic costs).
Please note that the submission speaks to a specific set of criteria that the Passenger Transportation Board considers when it reviews applications.
About the author
Alex Hemingway
Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His research focuses on tax fairness, public finances, public services, and economic inequality in BC and Canada. Alex holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia, where his research examined the relationship between economic class and political inequality in the advanced industrialized world. He holds two master’s degrees from the London School of Economics (MSc Social Policy and Planning; MSc Global Politics), as well as a BA in psychology from Simon Fraser University. Follow Alex on Twitter
