ESTEVAN - Estevan city council discussed the potential for bringing a ride-sharing program, such as Uber or Lyft, at the Feb. 12 meeting.
In a report, land development services manager Richard Neufeld said this started with an inquiry. He noted there is provincial legislation, the Vehicles for Hire Amendment Act, that governs ride-sharing companies.
"They also require an agreement with any municipality that would be hosting the service," Neufeld said.
Under the current zoning bylaw, ride-sharing services are allowed, Neufeld said. He also pointed out Estevan is among the municipalities where a taxi company can offer a service as a home-based business, but with a series of requirements.
Neufeld went into a detailed look into how ride-sharing services operate in different communities and the experience drivers have.
He noted there are communities that are smaller than Estevan with Uber, but those communities tend to be in tourist areas that attract a lot of out-of-town visitors.
"Population is a factor, and then the other one is reliability and affordability of the existing transportation options," he said.
A community can formally request Uber to move into their community, especially if they have a bylaw, but he's not sure how successful those requests are. He added a request to bring Uber to Estevan might be frowned upon by taxi operators.
"I don't know of a single instance where Uber moving into a community was warmly received by the taxi companies," said Neufeld.
Neufeld suggested a survey to measure the level of support for the service in Estevan.
Coun. Rebecca Foord supported the survey, noting that during the Christmas holidays, she received a call from a bar owner that was hosting an event and had many people ready to go home at 2 a.m. On that night there was another social event happening and the entrepreneur had to drive the revellers home.
"They had requested and asked, is there an option for some kind of ride-sharing program in the community," she said.
On nights with large social gatherings or multiple social events, there often won't be enough cabs in the community, Foord said.
"Especially when our taxi cabs are kind enough to offer rides to Bienfait, out to the dam, to surrounding farms. Some of those taxi rides take an hour," said Foord.
Bringing in a ride-sharing service is not a reflection of a lack of confidence in taxi cabs, she said.
Coun. Shelly Veroba echoed Foord's statements about wanting to have the survey to find out options.
"I think that the ride-share program could possibly just supplement the cab companies on nights such as those big events. I don't know how that would look, I don't even know if there would be people in Estevan interested in using their personal vehicles for that sort of thing. I don't think it hurts to explore, and I don't it hurts to get actual feedback from the actual cab companies in Estevan that are currently running," she said.
Council approved the suggestion for a survey.
