Whistler could have a ride-hailing service early in the new year, with the province giving the green light to a Tofino-based company to set up shop in the resort.
Dylan Green of Green Coast Ventures said he was surprised to receive an email on Monday, Dec. 16, telling him that his company was the first ride-hailing company to be approved to set up shop in B.C.
"Everyone knows there's a lot of applicants who applied, including Uber and Lyft," said Green. "So it's pretty exciting that they chose a local B.C. company to be the first licence holder."
A veteran of the transportation industry—Green started and ran Tofino Bus Service for 14 years before selling the company last year—Green won over the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) with a pitch that highlighted the "unique transportation needs" of Tofino and Whistler.
"Green Coast places particular emphasis on the significant peaks and valleys that resort communities experience in transportation demands as a result of population fluctuations," reads the PTB decision.
While Green Coast has also been approved to operate in the Lower Mainland and most of Vancouver Island (save for the Capital Regional District), Green indicated that the company is focusing its efforts on Tofino and Whistler, with the aim of acquiring enough drivers to be able to offer service in Whistler by January.
Ride sharing makes sense for a community like Whistler, with the "surge in transportation demand" it experiences on holidays and weekends, said Green.
"It's really difficult for a small [taxi] company in a small town that is so seasonal to have enough drivers and vehicles just for the weekends or during holiday season," he said. "I see ride hailing as a big solution to that."
Green Coast already has an app—Whistle (this will be the name that the company is known as, said Green)—which it plans on launching in the next week.
The app will allow users to carpool to destinations, saving them money.
"I think it will work perfectly in Tofino and Whistler, where there are mainly single roads going through town," said Green.
Under provincial regulation, Whistle will be prohibited from lowering its rates below taxi fares, and the public will not have the right to hail a ride-sharing vehicle on the street by hand.
Green said that his drivers will take home the bulk of a fare (at least 75 per cent), and that that amount will be on a sliding scale, with wheelchair-equipped vehicles taking home all of the fare save for a booking fee.
"We feel that to be successful, where the taxi industry wasn't, we need to have a really strong team of casual drivers," said Green.
To qualify to drive for Whistle, drivers will require a Class 4 driver's licence, a "newer car" with a certified inspection decal, as well as a current criminal record check.
Green added that all drivers will be interviewed, and that passengers will have the opportunity to rate drivers at the end of a fare.
Driver insurance will be covered by an ICBC special premium that will be covered by Whistle, said Green.
And while his business could be affected, Jinder Najjar—who, along with three other partners, recently acquired Blackcomb Taxi and Sea to Sky Taxi—didn't appear phased by the prospect, saying that his taxi service will remain "healthy" and is adapting to the times by launching an app of its own in the near future.
Najjar said that he is focused on improving service levels back to where they were when he drove for Whistler Taxi, from 2007 to 2011—an era that he said was better in terms of service. "We are trying to bring the locally owned taxi back," he said.
Unlike Whistle, Najjar's companies provide the vehicles and cover the full cost of insurance for its drivers.
Mayor Jack Crompton—a veteran of the transportation industry—said the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) would be working to ensure that ride hailing is offered in a "safe and accessible" manner.
"The RMOW is working with other jurisdictions for a regional licensing system so that an operator doesn't have to apply for a licence with each municipality," said Crompton.
"However, this is expected to take several more months. In the meantime, the RMOW will provide business licences to those [operators] who apply and meet our business-licence criteria."
