City of Regina saw increase in total rides hired, but less taxi hires, after Uber arrived

A report presented to Regina's city council on Wednesday showed the number of people hiring ridesincreased 13 per cent in the city since Uber arrived in 2019, but taxi trips declined overall.

Taxis still dominated the numbers, controlling 85 per cent of the ride-for-hire trips in Regina in 2019. However, taxi ridership was down five per cent year-over-year.

Then, over the first two months of 2020, Uber controlled about 28 per cent of the early-2020 market, while the remainder of the market was taken by the local taxi industry.

March numbers showed a 40 per cent decline in the overall ride-for-hire market.Dawn Schikowski, the city's manager of licensing and parking, attributed the drop to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schikowski said Uber is currently the only ride-hailing service operating in Regina.

"Other [companies] have inquired but we have not received any formal applications to this point," she said.

The report showed that the number of vehicles driving for Uber changes monthly.

The report said there are about 425 Uber drivers operating in Regina every month. A majority are operating on a part time basis. Only 15 per cent of drivers have made trips during weekdays and 42 per cent of drivers average fewer than 30 trips a month.

Eighteen per cent of Uber drivers in the city reported making six daily trips or more.

No complaints reported

Uber started officially operating in the city on May 15, 2019. Since that day, there have been no customer complaints against the ride-hailing company.

"The few inquiries submitted by [ride-hailing] drivers were related to suspensions from the company platform, which Uber correctly applied," she said.

"The lack of passenger complaints and the increasing volume of trips that Uber provides suggests that users within the city are pleased with the service being provided."

Schikowski said the only issue that has come up in the city's research over the last year is related to vehicle decals.

The city's bylaw around ride-hailing requires companies to provide drivers with company decals was not occurring consistently.

Schikowski said through discussions with the city, the company has since developed an expedited process, which allows drivers to obtain a temporary decal until their permanent one arrives.

"Drivers that have not displayed a decal have been charged with an offence under the vehicle-for-hire bylaw and been removed from the platform until they've been able to obtain their company decal," she said.