New Taxi and Uber By-Law – Cobourg News Blog

Taxis have long been debated in Council – concerns have been long wait times, no provision for Uber, no accessible taxis and from Taxi owners, that fares are too low. In September of 2023, a draft by-law was submitted to Council which would regulate all similar services collectively called “Vehicles for Hire”; that is, Taxis, Transportation Network Companies – (T.N.C. e.g. Uber or Lyft), Limousines and Designated Drivers. A Survey of cab owners and the public provided some feedback and at the April 24 Council meeting, the new bylaw was passed. But Kelly Paton, owner of Cobourg Cab, predicted an influx of drivers in the first 6 months resulting in job losses and possible closure altogether (of taxi companies). Then in 18 months there could well be a bigger gap in the market than there already is. Kelly based her prediction on the experience of other cities.

The new by-Law certainly makes big changes:

Summary of changes

Fares would no longer be set by the Town but each V.F.H. Industry would be permitted to establish its own tariff/fare model.– this is in line with current Uber practice.
A single licence would apply to all drivers of vehicles for hire
All Vehicles for hire and their drivers would be subject to the same rules – these are not as onerous as previously.

After Kelly’s presentation, Mayor Cleveland said he understood her concerns but could not predict the future – perhaps there would not be a problem. He also suggested that the By-Law could be changed in the future if necessary – he would welcome hearing from Taxi owners about any problems. Brent commented that Peterborough’s experience was that taxi users tended to stay with what they knew and that “you never know until you try”.

In addition, it was announced that:

The Town of Cobourg has been working with other lower-tier municipal clerks in sharing the proposed regulations and provisions with the idea that they will adopt the VFH by-law to allow for consistency and collaboration in licensing of defined vehicles across the County of Northumberland. The goal of this initiative would be to make it easier for all Vehicle for Hire companies to get licensed and remove any repetitive administrative burden. There would therefore be one set of licensing requirements for multiple municipalities, eliminating the duplication of processes from one jurisdiction to another and help support more health and safety and consumer protection of all residents.

Lucas commented that if the provincial or federal government were to step in and provide some guidance and/or policy direction it wouldn’t be up to the lower tier to deal with the issue one at a time.

The By-Law passed and is now in effect. There’s no confirmation yet that Uber will now operate in Cobourg although it seems that Uber Eats already does.

Resources

Download new By-Law – on Cobourg Internet.
Staff report on Survey and Community Engagement Report – both from Town’s web site.