Chan, Rita Y TRAN:EX. From: Gurdip Sahota Sent: Friday, September 7, 2018 216 PM To: ‘Transportation, Minister TRAN:EX Subject: 279977 re: 274556 - Ride hailing and 277152 - Modemizing tax legisiation ‘Attachments: 274556 Crown Corporations Committee Report on Transportation Network Companies in British Columbia; Report of Aug 23 2018 Meeting of BC Taxi Association with VIA, and Katerpdt 7 September 2018 Honourable Claire Trevena Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure PO Box 9055 Sin Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W9E2 @y email) Dear Minister Trevena, ‘Thank you for your reply dated March 23 (see below). Since then, we are in receipt of the report by Dr. Hara titled ‘Modemizing Taxi Regulation’, that you released on 19 July and have responded to the PTB Survey for Licensees and also had a meeting with the PTB Chair and Dr. Hara on 15" August in Surrey on the 3 items (Le. 15% increase of taxi licences, dynamic pricing thru app trips and separate vehicles for each shift). I understand that at some point your Ministry staff will also conduct separate consultations on the rest of the recommendations of the Hara report. Dr. Hara and the rest of the Ministry team have done some very good work and the report reflects that level of ‘thought and diligence that went into the preparation of this report. We are especially encouraged to learn about the immediate steps being taken to increase taxi fleets by 15% in order to deal with taxi shortages and peak period demand across the Metro Vancouver area. All members of the BC Taxi Association are also looking forward to the simplified/streamlined process that will be laid out by the PT Board and Branch to implement this measure. We are very concemed about reports that have been published in the media (https://theprovince.com/news/be- Sitics/mike- is-to-ndj tuber-out-let-us-run-ride-sharing ) about the Vancouver Taxi Association using their portion of the 15% additional taxi licences and giving them to Monty Sikka (Monark Group) for use as rideshare vehicles branded ‘Kater Cabs" and with dispatch through the mobile Kater App (the so called ‘Made-in-BC’ solution). What was even more troubling were the contents of the VTA/Kater ‘Letter of Intent’, that was published in that Province article written my Mike Smyth. We are alarmed to learn that any taxi company would ever think of obtaining additional taxis under the 15% allocation, that will be explicitly given to increase taxi fleets, in order to improve taxi service and address ever- increasing and rampant complaints of taxi shortages (especially in Downtown Vancouver) and somehow ‘transfer/assign’ those PDV identifiers, as VTA's ‘buy-in’ into the equity of the Kater Cabs business entity !! How does that address the problem of current taxi shortages in Downtown Vancouver. during peak periods and weekends, when hundreds/thousands of passengers are left in the lurch (social media is awash with the pictures sengers & no Vancouver cabs in sight or refusi them to 7 1 Page 54 of 134 TRA-2019-90231Let me be very clear, taxi companies should not be in the ridesharing/ride-hailing business !!! The public will see right through this and are already vilifying and slamming the VTA since the publication of Mike Smyth’s article in the Province. They are calling out and publicly shaming a greedy and self-entitled taxi association, that is now also trying to establish a monopoly position in ridesharing through this ‘Made-in-BC’ solution. I don’t have to tell you what the public wants, with respect to ride-hailing/ridesharing companies. You, your ministry, other members of your caucus are all being called on to allow the likes of Uber/Lyft to operate in BC immediately. We agree with your govemment’s position to ensure a proper level playing field with regulations that address public safety, through driver background checks, vehicle safety and adequate insurance to cover the risks associated with transporting paying passengers, at the same time addressing issues like archaic ‘boundary rules, class 4 licences, harmonization of taxi jurisdiction etc, that would prevent our taxis from competing with TNCs effectively. We want to be able to fully utilize our taxis 100% (from the current 50% due to deadheading driving) of the time and urge you to eliminate rules that prevent cabs from picking up fares ‘outside their originating “home” jurisdictions (which lead to unproductive deadheading, increased congestion and GHG emissions). ‘We know for & fact that if allowed to do so, we could instantly cut down on the time it takes to respond to the demand for taxi tips across the Metro Vancouver area and also address peak demand in Downtown Vancouver ‘on weekends and for special events/cruise ship season etc. Taxi customers would be the biggest winners and this move would go a long way to placate their complaints and also put a few more dollars into the pockets of our hard-working (and often under-appreciated) taxi drivers. Please see attached a report of a recent meeting between our association and the VTA, Kater's Monty Sikka, For quite some time, our association members have been coming under increasing pressure (from current and former provincial NDP politicians) to become patt of the above-mentioned “Made-in-BC° solution. We know ‘that our association members would never agree to ‘assign’ their 15% additional taxi icences to Kier. ‘However, in order to diffuse this pressure, we reluctantly agreed to this meeting, which eventually reinforced our original position, that under no circumstance can we deal with Kater and the VTA moving forward, given ‘heir duplicitous behaviour and conduct, leading up to and during, this recent mecting. ‘We are fiializing steps to secure our own association's texi app (even the Hara report calls cautions against ‘sipporting just one app snd prefers two apps) and very soon will inform your Ministry of the details of this new app which will have features like closest cab dispatch, in-app payments, driver ratings, live communication with drivers, electronic receipts, robust account management, data reporting, dynamic pricing (if allowed by PTB) etc. and will be provided by a local company. ‘We are very disappointed with the response from some of your ministry staff (Ashok Bhatti and Thomas ‘Chhun) to our long-standing request to allow cabs to use bus lanes, following a very successful move to do just that in the City of Vancouver in 2012/13. This would cut down on road congestion, allow our cabs to bypass ‘traffic, have faster tumaround times for trips and be able to serve more customers and cut down on GHG ‘emissions, all of which was documented in the 2013 (hitps://council. vancouver.ca/20130529/documents/ptec2.pdf ). We are asking for your help to please include this in the changes you will be implementing this fall as part of the overall taxi modernization initiative. All 3 North Shore Mayors and our contacts at TransLink (Sany Zein, VP of Infrastructure Management and Engineering) are in favour of this move and have called it a ‘no-brainer’. Cabs are currently allowed in all HOV Janes in Metro Vancouver, which is very helpful and this new addition of access to bus lanes would be the next logical step in this direction. We sincerely hope you Jook int is implement this. Thank you very much for your time and look forward to your reply. All of which is respectfully submitted. Page $5 of 134 TRA-2019-90231Kind Regards, Gurdip Sahota ‘General Manager ‘Sunshine Cabs Limited 1465 Rupert Street | North Vancouver, BC V7J 1G1 Tel: (604) 929-1221 x 104 | Fax: (604) 929-8644 Follow me on Twitter @gurdipsahota and sce some of my recent tweets using the hashtags #openzones #BCTaxi CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and may be protected by legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of this e-mail or any attachment is probibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the writer by retum e-mail and delete this copy from your system. WA race comer th evicenment befor printing the onal