Syed Hassan, a manager at Barrie Taxi Cab Services, based in a town nearby, said Uber might be good for large cities, “but for these remote areas like Innisfil, the drivers are surviving
on a very few number of calls.” He said the Uber deal would have a serious impact on his company’s business, which collects about $150,000 in fares from Innisfil rides a year.
Johnny Keogh, Innisfil’s public affairs officer, said the town changed its taxi laws to allow drivers to charge less to compete with Uber
and refunded fees paid by local taxi operators for the first year of the Uber deal.
Once the $100,000 set aside for the program is spent, town planners hope to have enough data on how many people are going where
and when to make better decisions about developing public transit, said Mr. Cane, the town’s land-use manager.
Critics, though, have voiced concern about Uber’s move into public transit, saying the service will sap systems of riders, create congestion during rush hours
and ultimately take money away from improving transportation infrastructure in cities fully embracing the Uber model.
“I’m providing the same service as Uber, but they said Uber’s technology is better,” he said.
