Ride Sharing in Kingston: Ensuring Safe and Reliable Transportation Options

With the emergence of ride sharing providers like Uber and Lyft, cities all over the world have been working to implement the right mix of regulations to ensure that these platforms provide a safe and reliable experience for users. In Kingston, we have a number of regulations in place for how taxis operate, and these standards are overseen by the Kingston and Area Taxi Commission. However, ride sharing remains unregulated, and at our Council meeting next week we’re going to discuss how the City can introduce regulations for Uber, Lyft and other similar ride sharing programs.

There are three reasons why we as a City want to develop a system to regulate ride sharing in Kingston. First, we want to ensure the safety of riders – that means regulations for the vehicles and background checks for drivers. Everyone can feel confident that appropriate safety measures are in place regardless of whether they are taking a taxi or a ride share. Second, we want a system in place that’s fair for both taxi drivers and ride share drivers, but also gives consumers the choice about what service they want to use. Finally, as a City we want to be able to work with both taxi and ride share providers to explore creative transit options in areas where there aren’t bus routes, such as in the rural areas of Kingston. While it may not make sense to run large buses to the rural area, there are interesting ideas about how we could use taxis and ride shares to connect with the main transit system in the urban area. At the end of the day, we want to make sure all residents have access to safe, reliable and convenient transportation options here in Kingston.

*Watch the discussion live at Council on Tuesday March 2nd at 7:00pm: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCglKQ0t6jFdKyBUTEVf-yXQ