The B.C. Supreme Court has invalidated a bylaw passed by the City of Vancouver that imposed a fee on ride-hailing companies working on city streets during peak hours.
Uber Canada took the city to court over the bylaw, claiming it overstepped a municipal government's power to regulate so-called "transportation network services."
The bylaw prevented ride-share vehicles from picking up or dropping off passengers in the "Metro Vancouver core" between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. unless they had a "congestion and curbside management permit."
The provincial government made the Passenger Transportation Board the "centralized authority" to regulate ride-hailing in 2019, but the city later imposed the bylaw, which Uber challenged in B.C. Supreme Court.
The court decision says the province made the changes to eliminate regulatory overlap, which the transportation minister at the time said had “plagued the passenger directed vehicle industry for years."
The ruling says there is no "rational pathway" for the city to claim it didn't intend to regulate the number of ride sharing vehicles operating in Vancouver with the bylaw because its stated intention was to reduce traffic congestion.
"Given the specifics of this particular bylaw, it is unreasonable for the city to decide it was authorized to invoke its powers to regulate stopping on city streets to defeat the purpose and text of its governing legislation," the ruling says. "Therefore, the bylaw is invalid and the decision to adopt it was unreasonable."
The city said in a statement that it "respects the judicial process and acknowledges the B.C. Supreme Court’s decision."
"The city will take the time necessary to carefully consider next steps," it said.
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
