Toronto maps out new rules for vehicle-for-hire industry

Toronto City Council has amended its vehicles-for-hire rules to improve safety and accessibility of taxis and private transportation companies including Uber and Lyft. Toronto mayor John Tory, says:” These new and updated requirements are a necessary step in protecting the residents and visitors of this city. Regardless of where they are going or how far the distance, we want to make sure passengers are able to access the service and get to their destination safely." The new rules will make it mandatory
July 30, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Toronto City Council has amended its vehicles-for-hire %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 <span style="color: windowtext">rules</span> false https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-546.pdf true false%> to improve safety and accessibility of taxis and private transportation companies including 8336 Uber and 8789 Lyft.

Toronto mayor John Tory, says:” These new and updated requirements are a necessary step in protecting the residents and visitors of this city. Regardless of where they are going or how far the distance, we want to make sure passengers are able to access the service and get to their destination safely."

The new rules will make it mandatory for all drivers to take a third-party training programme approved by the Canadian city. Preliminary topics will include safely transporting passengers, driving in an urban setting and providing an accessible service. In addition, all drivers will be required to securely mount all handheld devices to their vehicle and display notices if a camera is being used to record passengers.

The council says an Accessibility Fund Programme will help offset the higher cost of providing a wheelchair-accessible service. It will be funded through a regulatory charge on companies that do not provide this service.

As part of the move, the council has made changes to improve the licensing and enforcement of vehicles for hire. This includes increasing the amount of data that is collected to help inform future regulations.

The requirements will come into effect in January 2020.

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Uber may never be profitable … admits Uber
    April 12, 2019
    Private ride-hailing giant Uber, which is aiming to follow rival Lyft in becoming a public company this year, has warned that it may never be profitable. The candid admission comes in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Uber prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) which it reportedly hopes will value the company at $100 billion. This potential IPO figure is some way below the $120bn predicted by analysts just last year. And Uber warns: “We have incurred significant loss
    Read More
  • TfL policy to ensure private hire remains safe and convenient
    February 19, 2018
    Transport for London (TfL) has launched a policy statement in response to changes in the private hire industry and new services available. It aims to keep the capital at the forefront of regulating taxi and private hire services while maintaining the safety of passengers. As part of a series of changes to increase industry standards, TfL is advancing regulations to assess private hire drivers and applicants on safeguarding, disability, equality and knowledge of private hire vehicle (PHV) legislation as
    Read More
  • Uber seeks to resume AV trials nearly eight months after Arizona fatality
    November 6, 2018
    Uber wants to resume testing its self-driving cars on public roads nearly eight months after one of its autonomous vehicles (AV) killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The ride-hailing company has released a voluntary safety report to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which includes safety enhancements to help prevent crashes and fatalities. Uber says its AVs would include two mission specialists – employees who have completed advanced training courses in self-driving vehicle operations. The
    Read More
  • CVMA: Quebec's ZEV plan may create unintended consequences
    January 2, 2018
    The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association’s (CVMA’s) president Mark Nantais has stated that Quebec’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations “may result in unintended consequences for consumers, automobile dealers, industry and ultimately, Quebec's economy,” in response to the new strategy introduced by the province’s government. The standard aims to increase the number of ZEVs in the region and to reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions. It will come into effect on the 11 January 2018.
    Read More

Highlighted Content