Uber Launches Petition Calling on Electoral Candidates to Embrace Ride-Sharing Services

As the May 9 election is approaching fast, Uber has decided to make its case an election issue: it has penned a petition calling on all electoral candidates in British Columbia to “commit to bringing forward workable regulations that embrace ride-sharing in 2017” (via Vancouver Sun).

Shortly after this petition was sent out to users registered for updates from the company, it had already counted 10,000 signatures, which prompted Uber to raise its goal from 10,000 to 30,000.

Uber will share the aggregated results – in this case the number of supporters but excluding the names and contact details of those who sign the petition – with B.C. political parties.

The government has announced plans to spend $1 million to develop an app that is able to compete with Uber, and ICBC will spend $3.5 million to equip taxis with crash-avoidance technology and adapt the insurance system for ride-sharing.

While concrete plans of how the government would handle ride-sharing services are missing, ride-sharing services such as Uber are coming to B.C. That seems to be confirmed.

California-based Uber currently operates in 40 municipalities in Canada, such as Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto. Earlier in Toronto, Uber orchestrated a similar petition, which was signed by 25,000 people. When the city council voted on whether it should allow ride-sharing services in the city, councillors voted in favour of ride-sharing services.