American ride sharing service ponders Lyft-off in Toronto

As the city’s licensing and standards committee mulls over 100 recommendations made last week in hopes of easing tensions between Uber and Taxi drivers, the American ride sharing service Lyft is eyeing the playing field.

“We see tremendous opportunity for ride-sharing in your city, and look forward to collaborating with City Councillors and policy makers on a smart set of regulations,” said Mike Masserman, Lyft’s Senior Director of Federal and International Government relations, in a letter penned to the committee that also says the company has “no immediate plans to launch in Toronto.”

Tracey Cook said in a statement Friday that city staff reached out to Lyft and other stakeholders while preparing a report put to council last September about ground transportation. Lyft however, submitted the letter on their own.

Lyft’s most basic service is comparable to UberX, because users find and request a car using their cellphone and then pay and rate the driver at the end of their trip. Unlike Uber however, it doesn’t offer as many variations. Users can request a car for up to six passengers with Lyft Plus, and in certain U.S. cities can use a carpool service called Lyft Line. Uber on the other hand has rolled out a longer list of different services, including UberXL, UberBLACK, and UberWAV.

It isn’t the first time Lyft has eyed a Canadian market. In an email to Metro News on February 19th the company said they hadn’t made plans to launch in Calgary, but it was a good fit. When the Alberta government announced regulations that prompted Uber to withdraw its operations in the city however, a Lyft spokesperson told Metro “the regulations currently in place would not be conducive for a ride-sharing service like ours.”

Lyft rolled out simultaneously with its major ride-sharing competitor in several American cities in 2014, but it sometimes allows Uber to test out the waters in new cities. In Nevada for example, Lyft announced it would offer its service in Las Vegas in September 2015 – the same day Uber relaunched in Sin City. In the year previous, Uber had been banned from Las Vegas for not complying with Nevada’s licensing protocols, and both companies ended up applying for the necessary permits on the same day.

With discussions about regulations for the taxi and the ride-share industry before City Hall, it’s yet to be seen if Lyft considers Toronto the right environment for its first Canadian foray.

Regardless of Lyft’s intentions, the results of these discussions will be important for similar tech-based sharing companies in the future.

“What City Council approves on this report will set a framework for all other companies,” said councilor Janet Davis. “It’s our responsibility to make sure we get safety in the delivery of this service.”

Although Uber hasn’t made an appearance during the past two days of discussions at City Hall, they issued a document Thursday in response to city staff’s recommendations for private transportation companies.

They are opposed to a recommendation that vehicles be no more than seven years old, claiming it “unfairly prohibits people with 8-10 year old vehicles in good working condition” and it “will likely disadvantage those most in need of a flexible working opportunity.”

They also do not agree with stipulations for annual safety standards certificate inspection, applications fees, or record keeping.