Uber may be coming to Orillia in the very near future.
Mayor Don McIsaac and city staff have been in conversation with the ride-sharing company in recent weeks, and the mayor says a formal agreement between the two is likely in the coming days or weeks.
“I knew some people, so I made some connections, talked to the general manager of Uber in Canada,” McIsaac told OrilliaMatters. “They came back to us on Wednesday and said, ‘We're good to go, (but) we’ve got some clarifications (we’d like).'"
On Thursday, council passed several bylaw amendments McIsaac said Uber requested to get operations running in the city, including the following:
- Changing the location of transportation network companies (TNC) stickers from the front windshield of a vehicle to the rear windshield
- Removing the need for taxi services and TNCs to immediately notify the city upon a driver’s removal from their company, due to turnover rates, particularly following COVID-19
- Removing the need for taxi services and TNCs to immediately notify the city of a license plate change on a rostered vehicle
These companies will still have to provide a list of rostered drivers and licence plates, however, as part of their business licence renewal process.
With the bylaw changes made, McIsaac said the only thing left to do is wait for Uber’s application.
“We're really excited,” McIsaac said.
“We’ve sort of greenlit their process, and it's up to them to put in an application for a license, which they'll do … hopefully by early next week," said the mayor.
“That takes a day or two to review and approve, and once that's done then it's just up to them to turn the grid on and go,” he said.
On the campaign trail, McIsaac said he heard from numerous residents about issues with local transportation, and he welcomes Uber coming to the city.
“It just helps level the playing field and provides more capacity in the system,” he said.
Many in the community have been frustrated by a lack of available local cabs since Uber black-listed Orillia and refused to provide service in the municipality.
In November, long-time local cab company Able Taxi unexpectedly closed their doors, sending other taxi services scrambling to fill the void.
Earlier this week, a local couple announced they are starting a new taxi company, called Abby Taxi Orillia.
