Ride-hailing in Metro Vancouver: Uber, Lyft, Sidecar - emerging technologies

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

How many taxi industry residents can there be in Surrey? 1,000? even 4,000? That would only be around 1% of the population. Having 1% of the population dictating public policy sounds suspicious to me.

Or how much does a taxi industry resident donate to municipal politics vs everyone else. No surprise he was out in front of taxi drivers pretending like he can stop it forever.

As long as he can't veto a service zone in the rest of Metro Vancouver who cares if Surrey has no ride sharing.

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by Kisai

Seeing the opposite here. Seeing a lot of Advertisement for Lyft on Twitter.

Uber's actually sending out things.

Same, and literally 50-70% of ads I see on YouTube right now are for Lyft.

[SpongeG]

I think people, where they have uber and Lyft, prefer Lyft.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Stolen from reddit:

Why do they have a "service fee" on top of the "base fare"?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Why do they have a "service fee" on top of the "base fare"?

That could be what the city is charging.

So apparently a few ride hailing companies have been approved so far, but not Lyft or Uber. This is news today from twitter.

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Why do they have a "service fee" on top of the "base fare"?

Isn't it because their minimum price has to be on par with taxis?

[SpongeG]

they also charge you if you cancel, at least uber does but you can dispute it. The driver usually gets that fee from what I have been reading.

[cyclinginvancouver]

https://www.ptboard.bc.ca/Bulletins/2019/20191216_Bulletin.pdf

Approved

Green Coast Ventures Inc.
Trade Name: Whistle
New TNS
• New Special Authorization:
Transportation Network Services
Authorization (TNSA)
• Originating Area Requested:
o Region 1 – Lower Mainland,
Whistler
o Region 3 – Vancouver Island,
excluding CRD
• Destination Area: BC

https://www.ptboard.bc.ca/applications/2019/20191216/Green-Coast-Final-Decision.pdf

Rejected

LTG TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
Lucky To Go
New TNS
• New Special Authorization: Transportation
Network Services Authorization (TNSA)
• Originating Area Requested:
o Insert from application form
o Region 2 – Capital Regional District
o Region 3 – Vancouver Island, excluding
CRD
o Region 4 – Okanagan-Kootenay
Boundary-Cariboo
• Destination Area:
• BC or outside BC

https://www.ptboard.bc.ca/applications/2019/20191216/LTG-Final-Decision.pdf

[SpongeG]

I thought ride sharing was a done deal? this is all so confusing

Province approves first ride-hailing service — and it’s not Uber or Lyft
By Tyler Orton | December 16, 2019

What happened: A B.C. company is the first to get approval from provincial regulators to operate ride-hailing services

Why it matters: British Columbians have been waiting years for ride-hailing but the province has been slow to allow services

Those expecting provincial regulators to give the first ride-hailing licence to giants like Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) or Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq:LYFT) might be in for a surprise.

Instead, the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) revealed Monday (December 16) that it’s giving the nod to Green Coast Ventures Inc., a Tofino-based company operating under the name Whistle.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/12/province...6e9OAm2eeWItAD5v_lsyNQpC9kF_6zZEpSpFEQ1I

[Sheba]

In case Uber isn't already losing enough money...

Uber and Hyundai’s plan to develop air taxis hinges on mass production

Uber Elevate has boldly staked its reputation on operating commercial urban air taxis by 2023, promising Uber Air service in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Melbourne, Australia. At CES, Uber's head of aviation product, Nikhil Goel, reiterated that massive numbers of air taxis operating globally will be the foundation of Uber Air's business. "Electric aircraft manufacturing needs to be fundamentally different from how aircraft are manufactured today," Goel said.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Just when their business model can't get any less profitable, they come up with $10 helicopter rides?

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Sheba

In case Uber isn't already losing enough money...

seriously? in 3yrs? i doubt that. good luck to them i guess. though i don't think i like the idea of all these things flying over populations on a regular basis. same reason drone delivery is a bit sketchy. sure one falling out of the sky might be rare, but the more there are, the more it can happen.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Sheba

In case Uber isn't already losing enough money...

All it will take is one good accident to scare people away and completely collapse the business model...

[WarrenC12]

Back to the local market, where TF are Uber and Lyft?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

seriously? in 3yrs? i doubt that. good luck to them i guess. though i don't think i like the idea of all these things flying over populations on a regular basis. same reason drone delivery is a bit sketchy. sure one falling out of the sky might be rare, but the more there are, the more it can happen.

Just make sure every driver has a pilot's license, and it shouldn't be any more dangerous than your average helicopter - don't hear about those falling out of the sky very often. Now if Uber Air folds within two years and leaves a bunch of slightly-used VTOLs for anybody to bid on, then we should start worrying.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Just make sure every driver has a pilot's license, and it shouldn't be any more dangerous than your average helicopter - don't hear about those falling out of the sky very often. Now if Uber Air folds within two years and leaves a bunch of slightly-used VTOLs for anybody to bid on, then we should start worrying.

1 - people can barely handle a vehicle in 2 dimensions; look at ICBC for proof of that. throw in a 3rd dimension and, no thanks.

2 - helicopters fall out of the sky more often than you think. you just dont hear about them in the news since they are generally not over a populated area, such as the bush, etc. i know more than a few people who have been in helicopter crashes. one guy had it happen 2x in one day on 2 different helicopters.

3 - if there were a 10 fold increase in these things over the city, there would be some falling out of the sky. even if only 5% fall down, 5% of 500 that's 25.

4 - i don't want people flying over my property. air-rights would play a lot more because of these. and why would someone follow the streets in the sky? they'll just fly over your house.

5 - whats the operating altitude? will they be going through building downtown? will they end up high enough to interfere with air craft? how about with air ambulances? people don't more for emergency vehicles on the ground, the sky wont be different.

6 - what will be the "air traffic control?" will these things just be able to fly anywhere, anytime? how is that not dangerous?

in summary, it is a terrible idea with more problems than its worth.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

1 - people can barely handle a vehicle in 2 dimensions; look at ICBC for proof of that. throw in a 3rd dimension and, no thanks.

2 - helicopters fall out of the sky more often than you think. you just dont hear about them in the news since they are generally not over a populated area, such as the bush, etc. i know more than a few people who have been in helicopter crashes. one guy had it happen 2x in one day on 2 different helicopters.

3 - if there were a 10 fold increase in these things over the city, there would be some falling out of the sky. even if only 5% fall down, 5% of 500 that's 25.

4 - i don't want people flying over my property. air-rights would play a lot more because of these. and why would someone follow the streets in the sky? they'll just fly over your house.

5 - whats the operating altitude? will they be going through building downtown? will they end up high enough to interfere with air craft? how about with air ambulances? people don't more for emergency vehicles on the ground, the sky wont be different.

6 - what will be the "air traffic control?" will these things just be able to fly anywhere, anytime? how is that not dangerous?

in summary, it is a terrible idea with more problems than its worth.

^^ Tell that to every amateur pilot flying weekends.

BTW they'll probably have ballistic parachutes which are a game changer for emergency situations.

https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/10/03...aero-ballistic-parachutes-vtol-aircraft/

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

^^ Tell that to every amateur pilot flying weekends.

there is a big difference between flying taxis all over the place and relatively few people flying a plane at proper altitudes following rules, etc. these flying taxis will not be at the same altitudes as normal planes. there are a lot of issues to address, and i don't see it happening in 3yrs. these are the same people who have promised self driving cars for 10yrs and those are still far out.

see post above for further comments that you address when you mentioned people flying over my "precious house"

[logan5]

Maybe "passenger drones" would be safer than a traditional helicopter because these drones would be electric and be less prone to mechanical failure. They also have multiple rotors, which might mean they can still run safely even if one electric motor fails.

I'm a big believer that driverless cars will proliferate much faster than anticipated, but I have a hard time seeing these air taxis becoming a reality anytime soon.

[Migrant_Coconut]

For everybody's information, flying helos in Canada requires (on average) 12+ weeks of training, 100+ flight hours and $14,000+ worth of spare change; unlike drones, you don't get a pilot's license just for the hell of it.

Yeah, there's plenty of potential complications, but it's not like the metro'd turn into a 3D Richmond overnight. Go off the street or too low, there goes your job and your license. Uber fires people almost at the drop of a hat.