Uber revs up to roll into Winnipeg

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This article was published 10/03/2020 (2180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

American ride-hailing service Uber — which in 2018 aborted a launch in Winnipeg — has pulled a U-turn and now plans to be in the city by summer.

That year, buzz was building for the company’s arrival: It was signing up drivers and gearing up for the launch of new rules governing ride-for-hire services that March. It ground to a halt when Uber decided it could not conform to Manitoba Public Insurance’s “passenger vehicle for hire” coverage.

On Monday, Michael van Hemmen, Uber Canada’s head of western Canadian operations, now says the insurance framework is “workable,” and that the company will purchase additional private packages for drivers to cover gaps that stalled Uber’s entry into the market two years ago.

Assuming enough drivers sign up, van Hemmen said Monday Uber could be operating UberX (sedan) and UberXL (minivan, SUV) services in the spring.

Grant Heather, the city’s manager for vehicles for hire, said Uber’s had cordial conversations with Winnipeg for the past two years, and the company still has to complete the dispatcher licence application process.

The company, founded in 2009, has been courting the Winnipeg market since 2015 .

In 2018, the province handed responsibility of hired vehicle oversight to the city. Council implemented a new bylaw that allowed companies such as Uber to operate in the city alongside traditional taxicabs. Seventeen such companies, including Edmonton’s TappCar, have since registered as dispatchers, but Uber stayed away, unable to come to terms with MPI’s package.

Meanwhile, Uber launched in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon, and expanded worldwide, but there were bumps in the road. Founding CEO Travis Kalanick resigned in 2017, and in May 2019, the company had its initial public offering on Wall Street, with shares selling for US$45 each; they are now valued at under US$30

Van Hemmen said the plan is to target Winnipeg, with the possibility of moving into nearby communities in the future. He said down the road, the company hopes to come to an agreement with MPI similar to the blanket coverage of Saskatchewan’s or British Columbia’s public insurers.

“This model is workable, but we hope to continue to see it evolve,” he said. 

Research is mixed on how ride-hailing impacts traffic, public transit use and vehicle ownership. 

A 2015 study in San Francisco indicated if ride-hailing weren’t an option in that city, only six per cent of respondents would have driven a car to make their trip. A 2018 study in Boston found 42 per cent of respondents would take public transit if ride-hailing weren’t an option.

Derek Koop, president of citizen group Functional Transit Winnipeg, said although it’s good to have more available options for transportation, ride-hailing services can’t be viewed as replacements for public transit. He said he’d be concerned if the city viewed Uber’s arrival as a justification for reducing transit funding.

The city’s preliminary four-year budget, announced Friday, calls for the cancellation of the discount U-Pass program for students and reduced or removed Winnipeg Transit service along 14 routes.

Koop said public transit investments can reduce spending on road infrastructure and emissions, something he said ride-hailing can’t promise.

Since being introduced in Winnipeg, ride-hailing use has increased, Heather said. Between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2018, about five per cent of all rides with vehicles for hire were with ride-hailing companies. Between August and January 2019, that increased to about seven per cent. The majority of the rides were with established taxi companies.

Heather said he didn’t want to speculate on what the impact would be on those numbers were Uber to enter the market.

Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, told the Free Press that while it sees opportunity in Winnipeg, “the current insurance framework does not allow true ride-sharing to operate in the province.”

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca