Sask. passes act to welcome services like Lyft, Uber

Saskatchewan has officially opened the door for services like Uber and Lyft.

The provincial government passed The Vehicles For Hire Act on Tuesday, which outlines how the ride-booking companies will be allowed to operate.

We want to keep that playing field as level as we can for them all.- Minister Joe Hargrave

Insurance rates will be determined on a sliding scale, said minister responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave, meaning rates will be calculated based on kilometres travelled.

"If they're basically using their personal vehicle for a full-time, you know, ride-share or full-time taxi almost, they'll be paying that full rate," Hargrave said.

"We want to keep that playing field as level as we can for them all."

For a comparison, annual insurance for a personal vehicle is roughly $1,000 while taxi cab insurance is around $5,000.

Lyfttimeline unknown

A representative from Lyft said it's committed to opening in the province and is applauding the Saskatchewan government. However, before disclosing a date, representative Matt Patton said the company needs to figure out certain issues like insurance.

The new act's move to require drivers with any ride-booking companies to have a Class 4 licence, get yearly vehicle checks by SGI, and to have a criminal record check is in step with requests made by the Saskatchewan Taxi Cab Association (STCA), said spokeswoman Shondra Boire.

"We're happy.I feel like Saskatchewan is finally getting this one right. We've kind of, you know, stepped back a little bit and watched every other province, see what they've done," she said.

"I feel like they're making the right decisions for the people of Saskatchewan."

Boire said the STCA's main priority is safety for passengers and fairness for taxi drivers.

One point the new act doesn't touch on is STCA's desire to make in-car cameras necessary for the new ride-booking services.

Boire said she understands that the province decided to leave this up to municipalities because the province doesn't mandate cameras in any other transportation services.

Many regulatory decisions and municipal bylaw moves have yet to be made, and the STCA will be monitoring those closely.

What's left to figure out

Once regulatory talks for this new act get going, a key thing Boire will be looking at is pricing.

"That's something that hasn't been fully discussed yet and determined. So we'll see what the act brings when they bring in regulations or that might be left up to the municipalities to determine," she said.

In cities like Saskatoon, there are a limited number of taxi licences up for grabs. This means a taxi company is not able to put more taxis out on the road without getting municipal approval.

The existing licences don't trade hands often and when they do, the transaction is not public, meaning the value of that license is hard to pin down.

Boire said other jurisdictions limit how many licences are available to each ride-booking company.

"We wouldn't really like to see a whole free-for-all because that, you know, can totally just clog our streets with vehicles sitting and waiting," she said.

Municipalities also have the ability to restrict the times that the new ride-booking services can operate.