Ride-hailing vehicles licensed, insured and raring to go Friday

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This article was published 01/03/2018 (2757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ride-hailing drivers, start your engines.

As of Friday, ride-hailing is live in Winnipeg. After being licensed and insured today, two companies are officially kicking off their Winnipeg operations: TappCar and Cowboy Taxi both have drivers collecting fares in the city.

TappCar said it would have more than 50 drivers working by Friday, while Cowboy Taxi said it would have at least five.

Both companies have received hundreds of applications from would-be drivers and hope to quickly ramp up their employee pool in the coming weeks, with Tapp Carr saying it expects to have 500 drivers working within a month.

“It’s very exciting. We’ve got almost 700 applications already…(The drivers) are very excited because they’ve never had this kind of chance before. It’s a very good opportunity and there will be more people on the road as the demand goes up,” said Balraj Manhas, TappCar fleet manager.

The first TappCar driver to hit the city’s streets will be Evgeni Stamdolski, who will take off at the company’s official launch Friday at 11 a.m. outside city hall. He says he’s taken time off from his regular job to try ride-hailing and will consider making it a full-time gig should it prove lucrative.

“I’m very excited. I could use the extra cash and I might even turn this into a permanent full-time job. If it fits my needs then I will maybe stay on with TappCar full-time. If not, I can do it part-time,” Stamdolski said.

That flexibility – the ability to work full or part time, or pick up a shift here or there – is exactly what the MPI ride-hailing insurance models lacks, according to industry leaders Uber and Lyft. Both companies say the offer MPI currently has on the table makes it impossible for true ride-hailing to exist in Winnipeg.

“The reason (ride-hailing) has been attractive to so many people in so many places, is because (ride-hailing) removes the friction that’s inherent in the legacy driving services. It’s about tapping a button – it’s simple and seamless,” said Chris Schafer, spokesman for Uber Canada.

“Any commercial ridesharing process needs to have that same simplicity and remove the friction. Unfortunately, MPI has put forth a proposal for ridesharing commercial insurance that the two largest potential purchasers have concerns with.”

That sentiment was echoed by Chelsea Harrison, spokeswoman for Lyft. She says the company not only wants to bring their services to Winnipeg, but could be ready at a moment’s notice. In addition, she says their research shows there’s a strong desire for their services in the city.

“Every time we come to Winnipeg we talk to more and more people, more and more businesses, more and more members of the community, who are really in need of more transportation options,” Harrison said.

“I think it is unfortunate Winnipeggers are not able to access the same reliable service that other cities in the country have. We appreciate the conversations we’ve had with MPI and hope to continue those. But we do have to be really clear: what is currently proposed does not allow true ridesharing to come to the city.”

Meanwhile, as the city prepares for the introduction of ride-hailing services, the taxi industry is preparing for the reality they’ll no longer have a monopoly on the market.

Scott McFadyen, spokesman for the Winnipeg Taxi Coalition (WTC), said the industry recognizes ride-hailing is going to cut into their business, but added they’re not down for the count.

That’s why the WTC – which represents city’s two largest cab companies, Unicity and Duffy’s – unveiled a new four-pillar plan today aimed at improving their respective operations.

That plan focuses on quicker service, technology upgrades, enhanced customer service training and the creation of a community advisory council.

“We’ve had the opportunity to hear feedback from Winnipeggers on the taxi service. That has really given us an opportunity to act on some of that feedback. We recognize that we don’t have perfect service. But we’re taking steps to become number one,” McFadyen said.

“We’ve heard what people have had to say. We’re rolling out some very specific initiatives to address some of those concerns, and there is going to be more to come. That’s the message we want to send to Winnipeggers: we’ve heard you loud and clear.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe