Close X
Saturday, November 2, 2024
ADVT 
National

Kater Seeks Southern B.C. Ride-Hail Licenses By Winter, Rest Of B.C. By 2020

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Sep, 2019 08:56 PM

    VANCOUVER - Ride-hailing company Kater Technologies says it has officially applied for a licence that would allow it to operate in every region of British Columbia.

     

    A statement from the company says B.C. is one of the last areas of North America without ride-hailing and the province now has an opportunity to introduce the service in the "right way."

     

    Kater CEO Scott Larson says the company hopes to launch operations across Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and the Okanagan by this winter, with operations in other B.C. regions rolling out over the next 12 months.

     

    Kater is also proposing a system of pricing that would slide from a minimum of 90 per cent of current taxi rates to a maximum of 200 per cent, a range it says addresses consumer concerns about prices rising when demand is higher.

     

    Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said last week that eight ride-hailing companies, including Uber, had filed licence applications with the Passenger Transportation Branch of her ministry.

     

    A coalition of nine Vancouver taxi companies has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to quash policies it says were illegally created for ride-hailing, arguing binding guidelines for ride-hailing services should not have been set before individual applications were heard.

     

    Kater's goal is to serve growing consumer demand while improving "inherent downsides" linked to other ride-hailing providers, Larson says in the statement.

     

    The company says it will include approximately 250 wheelchair accessible vehicles in its network and will also use location-based pricing and driver incentives to encourage Kater drivers not to abandon suburban service during peak hours.

     

    "Assuming that the Passenger Transportation Board approves our pricing model, our drivers are projected to earn at least $25 for every hour that they are active on the Kater platform," says the statement.

    Kater addresses congestion and pollution concerns by pledging that no more than 2,000 of its cars will be on the road at any given time.

     

    Its statement says it also intends to integrate taxis into its operating platform, a move the company says will support the taxi services already in operation.

     

    The coalition of Vancouver taxi companies has said new provincial ride-hailing rules amount to "destructive competition" because they allow so-called transportation network services to offer an unlimited number of vehicles in broader geographic areas compared with cabs.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Two Port Coquitlam Teens Arrested In Connection With Little Library Fires

    Tips from the public have helped identify two teenage male suspects after a series of fires to community book exchange boxes known as Little Libraries.

    Two Port Coquitlam Teens Arrested In Connection With Little Library Fires

    Abbotsford Major Crimes Unit Investigating Suspicious Fire At Townhouse

    Abbotsford Emergency Services responded to a townhouse complex fire this morning, just before 2:00 am, in the 33000 block of Lynn Ave.  Fire crews extinguished a fire that affected 3 townhouses

    Abbotsford Major Crimes Unit Investigating Suspicious Fire At Townhouse

    Police Shut Down Two Illegal Multi-Million Cannabis Oil Labs In South Vancouver

    Police Shut Down Two Illegal Multi-Million Cannabis Oil Labs In South Vancouver
    Vancouver Police executed search warrants on two illicit cannabis oil labs in South Vancouver on Friday under the new Cannabis Act, seizing thousands of pounds of drugs and shutting down a multi-million dollar drug operation.

    Police Shut Down Two Illegal Multi-Million Cannabis Oil Labs In South Vancouver

    City Of Delta Crime Severity Index Sees Little Change From Previous Year

    The City of Delta’s overall Crime Severity Index (CSI) has held steady at just under 53 index points for 2018, 

    City Of Delta Crime Severity Index Sees Little Change From Previous Year

    Teen Spending Birthday In Jail Gets Surprise Visit, Cake From Coquitlam Mountie

    A teenager with a significant police history got an unexpected late-night visit while spending the weekend in the Coquitlam RCMP jail.

    Teen Spending Birthday In Jail Gets Surprise Visit, Cake From Coquitlam Mountie

    Doug Ford Says Boris Johnson Will Do 'Great Job' As Britain's Next Prime Minister

    Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Boris Johnson will do a "great job" as Britain's next prime minister.

    Doug Ford Says Boris Johnson Will Do 'Great Job' As Britain's Next Prime Minister