The City of Toronto has frozen the number of rideshare vehicles operating on city streets to manage greenhouse gas emissions in the industry.
The number of licensed drivers shouldn’t exceed figures recorded as of October 12th, 2023, until City staff “reports back on a comprehensive framework, including emissions, congestion and transit impacts.”
The freeze could last at least a year, given City staff must submit their report by the fourth quarter of 2024 at the latest. The freeze doesn’t apply to drivers who own zero-emission vehicles. Toronto has about 52,000 licensed drivers.
In a statement to The Star, Uber Canada said the move would “increase wait times and the cost of a safe and reliable transportation option.” The company stated it’s reviewing its legal options.
This shrinks the pie of flexible earnings opportunities at a time when affordability of our city is at crisis levels
Rideshare is a source of needed income for many newcomers to our city/country. Why take that away when we are trying to create jobs and help people afford houses?
— Andrew Macdonald (@andrewgordonmac) October 12, 2023
Andrew Macdonald, the senior vice president of mobility at Uber, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say the ruling was “a bad outcome for Toronto.”
“Restricting supply of something that consumers need badly (in this case, reliable, safe, affordable transportation) is not good for the city.”
Source: Toronto City Council Via: The Star
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