Cove r Story
that metered taxi drivers are getting
less work; they have readjusted their
business to put their taxis where the
higher demand is. It’s made us look at
how we regulate everything, so this is a
catalyst for change.”
In Toronto as well, “we redrafted
our entire regulatory regime for taxis
at the same time that we drafted new
regulations for Uber,”
says Tracey Cook, the
City of Toronto’s execu-
tive director of Municipal
Licensing and Standards.
“We made substantive
changes to the extent
to which the city was
involved in the taxi indus-
try. We had historically
been doing the training,
and we had a dedicated Tracey Cook
inspection centre. We
have gotten out of both of
those businesses, putting the respon-
sibility and the onus where it belongs,
which is on the industry.”
Toronto’s taxi licensing system has
been streamlined with a new bylaw
that governs both metered taxis and
Uber, and fares can be discounted or
raised if rides are pre-booked and the
passenger accepts the higher fare in
advance. “We did not deviate on the
safety standards,” says Cook. “And we
are actually licensing every PTC (pri-
vate transportation company) driver
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digitally — we’ve licensed over 47,000
people.”
Since early 2016, Toronto has also
been addressing Airbnb. “The gen-
eral sentiment, even among the large
volume of users, was that there should
be some regulation, and in particu-
lar, some regulatory clarity,” Cook
says. “Overall, we had an interest in
ensuring that proper-
ties were being used for
the purpose for which
they were intended, and
that we had some tools
to mitigate community
impacts.”
In June, city staff rec-
ommended that only
one’s principal residence
could be let out for short-
term rentals (a move that
would close about 3,200
of an estimated 10,800
units). In addition, licensing the plat-
form will give the city access to new
data about visitor stays. “Data is a
huge piece and an opportunity on
the Airbnb and the Uber front,” Cook
says.
“You can either come to the party
or be brought,” says Dan Mathieson,
mayor of Stratford, where the prov-
ince has chosen to locate the only
demonstration site in Ontario for its
five-year, $80 million autonomous
vehicle innovation network. The
choice of Stratford was enabled by the
city’s ubiquitous WiFi network. “We
put our hands up before anyone else
and asserted ourselves; it’s allowed us
to build a brand around innovation
and entrepreneurial spirit, and those
are two key attributes that are looked
on very favourably everywhere in the
world,” Mathieson says.
The municipality had previously
hosted Japanese tech firm Renesas
and the University of Waterloo
Centre for Automotive Research
(WatCAR) as they carried out closed-
track testing of autonomous vehicles.
“Of course, we had some great winter
weather, so they got to see how
autonomous vehicles react in sleet,
with covered lanes,” Mathieson quips.
“They learned a lot!”
The project is expected to raise the
municipality’s profile internationally
and stimulate the economy through
short-term visits and potential new
business. Also, “a lot of infrastruc-
ture will be put in place and paid
for, like data collectors on stop
lights,” Mathieson says. “It’s going to
help us plan our asset management
system.” Dedicated communications
devices for autonomous vehicles will
put Stratford ahead of many larger
centres.
“The government of Ontario is
looking for partners to come up with
best practices; they know that munic-
ipalities can’t do that on their own,”
he continues. “There is an evolution
going on, and it’s not something that
anyone is used to. Many functions
of municipal government have been
used to taking years to put rules
in place that last years or decades.
We need a change of mindset to see
things in terms of years or months.”
“I think the thing that we have
done is not deregulate, but reregu-
late around the things we need to
be in, to ensure our public safety
and consumer protection mandate,”
says Cook. “Going through the pain
of Uber was really an opportunity
to refresh and reframe the city, and
I think the approach we took with
taxis and Uber is carrying through to
all the regulatory and bylaw reviews
we do.”
“Is a municipality ready to move
into the next wave? Are we flexible