Uber Still Expects to Launch in BC Despite Government Uncertainty

Back in March, the B.C. government announced ride-sharing would launch in the province this December, opening the doors to the likes of Uber, Lyft and more. The ruling Liberal Party at the time explained the “made in B.C.” approach ahead of the May election.

Fast forward to present day, the Liberals now see themselves as the possible official opposition as the NDP and Green Party have agreed to join together to rule the province. Despite uncertainty about who’s in charge, Uber told News1130 they’re still on track to launch in B.C. by the end of the year:

Uber Canada’s Susie Heath wasn’t available for comment, but she has issued a statement suggesting the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens all promised to make ride-hailing services available by the end of 2017.

Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs said the timeline is still up in the air, because nobody knows who’s the province yet. “We don’t have a provincial government really at this stage, so it’s pretty difficult to predict,” he added.

Meggs criticized Uber over the latter’s recent price surging in London during terror attacks, saying “There are other ride-sharing companies out there who’ve tried to take a lesson from this.” He continued, “Lyft, which is only operating in the United States, sometimes will send its cars for free to trouble spots.

“Uber has run into these problems on a number of occasions, including in New York when there was a demonstration against Trump’s immigration legislation. Uber seemed to take advantage of that by driving up prices.”

Uber responded to say their ‘dynamic pricing’ in London was quickly paused and free rides were given in the danger zone.

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