Taxi drivers protest Uber outside East York Civic Centre
Posted August 17, 2016 6:01 am.
Last Updated August 17, 2016 3:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Taxi drivers gathered outside the East York Civic Centre on Wednesday morning to protest what they call the city’s inaction to enforce Uber bylaws.
The group of taxi drivers claim the city is not enforcing regulations against the ride-sharing service and that the new regulations don’t protect passengers. The new vehicle-for-hire bylaw came into effect in July.
The civic centre on Coxwell Avenue, at Mortimer Avenue, houses the city’s Municipal Licensing and Standards office, which is responsible for overseeing taxis and transportation including Uber.
Organizers said they were not planning to interrupt traffic. Drivers boarded buses in the east and west end of the city, which took to the civic centre. They did not drive their taxis there.
680 NEWS reporter Carl Hanstke spoke with Sam Moini, one of the protest organizers. Watch the video below or click here to view it.
This protest came just a day after the city announced it has licensed Uber as a “Private Transportation Company” (PTC), putting the company’s transportation service UberX into a category that’s separate from taxis or limos.
The city will now screen and licence the company’s drivers, but it’s up to Uber to send criminal background checks to the city.
All Uber drivers should be licenced by early September.
Cabbies argue Uber drivers should not be allowed to operate until all the work has been completed.
Related stories:
City issues Private Transportation Company licence to Uber
Taxi protest planned this month in downtown Toronto
Uber can now apply to license its drivers
Uber granted taxi brokerage licence
The Uber ridesharing program was granted a city of Toronto taxi brokerage licence in January.
The city created the PTC licensing category to accommodate ride-sharing services like Uber, which were enormously popular without being exactly legal.
With files from The Canadian Press
