Business booming for local ride-hailing companies

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This article was published 30/04/2018 (2469 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two months after their drivers first hit the road, local ride-hailing companies say business is good in Winnipeg and, if anything, is getting even better.

“I would say things have been anything but quiet. The market has been growing from the beginning of us getting our services on the road. Our top day for rides fell on a (Winnipeg) Jets (NHL playoff) game. We saw almost 3,000 rides that day,” said TappCar Inc. spokesman John Morris.

“We’re experiencing a high volume of demand with people attending the game, the Whiteout street parties, or just the downtown in general. The deeper the Jets go in the playoffs, the better the business is for TappCar.”

Ride-hailing services were officially introduced in the province March 1. Since then, two — Edmonton-based TappCar and Calgary-based Cowboy Taxi Ltd. — have rolled out their Winnipeg operations. TappCar has roughly 250 drivers on Manitoba’s roads, while Cowboy Taxi has 34 active drivers, according to spokesmen for the companies.

Two other ride-hailing services — local startup U2Go and Toronto-based Instaryde — had previously indicated they’re looking to break into the Winnipeg market, but have yet to get operations up and running. According to its website, U2Go is eyeing a May launch date.

The rise of the ride-hailing services in Manitoba comes in the midst of some chaos in the traditional taxi industry.

On Thursday, hundreds of Winnipeg cab drivers demonstrated at Polo Park shopping centre, before gathering again Friday afternoon at city hall, to protest — in part — restrictions from taxi industry owners who don’t want them picking up part-time work with local ride-hailing services.

Cowboy Taxi has received more than 500 driver applications, according to owner Mo Benini (although it remains unclear how many of them are also employed with one of the city’s taxi companies). When asked why Cowboy Taxi only has 34 drivers when it has received hundreds of applications, Benini cited selectiveness on his part, as well as a lack of paperwork by many of the applicants.

“We want to make sure we get the right drivers. They also have to have all of the right documents. We know there are some drivers who think they can work because they’ve been approved elsewhere, but that don’t actually have the right documents,” Benini said.

“But, overall, things have been good. We think Winnipeg is more driver-friendly and business-friendly than other (jurisdictions). There’s a level playing field here. We’re looking to bring on more drivers. We’re activating drivers by the day or by the week, and deactivating others who aren’t doing what they’re supposed to.”

As it currently stands, industry big shots Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. remain on the outside looking in two months after Manitoba’s Local Vehicles for Hire Act went into effect. The industry giants have rebuffed Manitoba Public Insurance’s plan for ride-hailing service drivers, saying it makes operating in the province economically unfeasible.

That stance has left a market vacuum lesser-known outfits are happy to try and fill.

Benini counters Uber and Lyft’s claims, saying rather than getting it wrong, MPI got its insurance policy right. The fact MPI didn’t bend over backwards for Uber and Lyft is why those companies have, so far, refused to come to Manitoba, he said.

“They made the fairest insurance product in Canada, compared to what each of the other provinces did,” Benini said.

However, Cowboy Taxi’s owner does have one complaint about the rules governing ride-hailing in Winnipeg: under the city’s vehicle-for-hire bylaw, ride-hailing companies are allowed to accept bookings online or through their apps, but not over the phone. Benini said phone booking shouldn’t be the exclusive right of taxi cab companies and he’d like to see that restriction lifted.

“Someone should be able to book with us through their phone, whether they want to call, use the app, or book online. We’ve had lots of people who’ve tried to call to make a booking, but we can’t take phone bookings,” he said.

“We ask them to download the app, but some of them don’t. They prefer calling… I think that rule is the only disadvantage to business in Winnipeg, because in other areas, we’re allowed phone bookings.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe