Traffic in Toronto during last week’s Uber protest. Photo via the author
UberHOP, the newest branch of the popular/controversial ride home app service, will be hitting Toronto streets on Tuesday for a test run, which puts the dysfunctional Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in a bit of an awkward position.
As of right now, Uber only offers their regular ride services—Uber X, Uber XL, and Uber Black—in the 6ix, but this week will mark the introduction of UberHOP as well, which premiered in Seattle last week.
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The service, which is essentially just a fancy way of splitting the fare with other people headed in the same direction, offers a $5 flat rate to anyone traveling between Financial District and one of four high-traffic hubs during peak travel hours.
The current routes offered—notably to Liberty Village and the Distillery District—would directly cut into the city’s congested transit lines, which include the 504 King St. car, a route often used by around 60,000 passengers every day.
The app could be popular considering the TTC’s beleaguered high-traffic streetcar lines. With transit prices continuing to soar (Toronto has one of the highest fare rates in North America) and the city’s ongoing battle with manufacturing company Bombardier over the now-extremely-overdue delivery of modern streetcars—just two of the many issues Torontonians regularly complain about when it comes to public transit.
According to the National Post, TTC CEO Andy Byford says that the app service isn’t a real worry for the transit service (despite its raging success at being an existential crisis for taxi services in the city). He does note, however, that the TTC is launching a legal inquiry into the basis of UberHOP infringing on TTC operations.
“Because [UberHOP] has been announced and there’s a very clear intent to effectively provide an alternate transit service, we want the lawyers to have a look at it,” Byford said.
Byford noted that he is not against Uber itself—he’s just protecting the interests of the TTC, making no mention of plans to hang onto the doors of moving Ubers in protest.
“I’m not anti-Uber but my loyalty is to the TTC,” Byford said. “I thought it was kind of ironic that the head of the TTC should be sent an Uber invitation… I can tell you now I will be continuing to use the 504 King streetcar.”
In fact, earlier this year, Toronto’s Taylor Scollon crowdfunded a proposed bus service that would deliver people directly to Liberty Village. Scollon axed the idea once he realized how intense Toronto’s transit regulations were.
Uber in Toronto has faced intense criticism, most notably from the city’s various taxi cab companies and cabbies, who have shut down major intersections and streets during rush hour in an attempt to protest the app-based taxi service.
While critics say that a lack of regulation around Uber is a huge problem and the cars needed to insured and licensed legally to continue operating, the municipal and provincial governments haven’t come to a conclusion. Today, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory both endorsed the idea that people choosing Uber is a sign that it’s the inevitable next progression for commuters, but noted that they still need to create laws to accommodate the app service. Perhaps more shirtless protests are needed.
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