Uber Launches Petition to Lobby Toronto City Councillors

Uber really wants Toronto city councillors to vote YES to the new framework that would legalize its existence. In an effort to put some pressure on city councillors, Uber has unveiled a petition on its website and is inviting both users and drivers to sign the letter, which will be delivered to the Toronto city council (via the Star).

In the open letter, Uber argues that it has created thousands of new local jobs, allowed residents to earn more than $50 million, and connected passengers to millions of safe and affordable rides. Ridesharing and Uber is the twenty-first-century solution to driving under the influence, traffic, and carbon emissions, the letter states.

The petition aims to collect 30,000 signatures and, as of writing this article, had managed to collect half of those.

The petition comes at a time when the taxi industry in Toronto has been fighting against ridesharing (and Uber). Earlier this year, Mayor John Tory asked the taxi industry and Uber to open discussions and elaborate a framework that allows both the traditional and the new ridesharing solutions to coexist.

A provision of the proposed regulation was voted down as recently as last week, as it would have allowed UberX to finally legalize its presence. There will be another vote on September 30, and Uber hopes to win this battle against the traditional taxi industry, which has had a monopoly in Toronto for 50–60 years.