Rideshare driver speaks out against Toronto's new cap on Uber and Lyft operators

Toronto is looking to cap the number of rideshare drivers operating services like Uber and Lyft in the city, but a prominent voice in the industry is calling the proposal "disappointing."

A report to the City's Executive Committee recommends sweeping changes to Toronto's vehicle-for-hire by-law that would place a cap on private transportation company (PTC) licences.

If the recommendations are approved by City Council, the 80,429 PTC licences already issued as of December 1, 2024 will become the new cap, with an exemption for zero-emission and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

The City cites the recommendation on a range of factors, calling the move "a proactive measure to mitigate the risk of increasing traffic congestion and emissions, and impact on public transit use, while balancing considerations for driver equity and user mobility."

The cap may seem like a harsh measure, but the City says that "initiatives and recommendations in this report were informed by an extensive, year-long process with several inputs throughout the review, including five public consultation sessions, two focus groups and two surveys involving over 4,000 participants, jurisdictional research, substantial internal analysis and third-party academic research conducted by the University of Toronto."

Though such a cap would ostensibly translate to less competition among rideshare operators, the proposal is actually generating concerns in the driver community.

Earla Phillips, an outspoken rideshare driver, activist, and vice-president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario (RDAO), tells blogTO that drivers "are disappointed with the staff recommendations."

Phillips says that "the 'cap' is too high and will have no impact on driver earnings" and specifically calls out the loophole for electric vehicles, stressing that "there is no limit to adding new drivers with EVs."

Pearson Airport is seeing more Ubers than ever and Toronto drivers are raising alarms https://t.co/m7Dob8JHA5

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 25, 2024

While the City states that it poured much research into the proposed cap, Phillips argues that "it disregards the fact that driver earnings are below $6 per hour."

She also notes that the City's report "is missing the additional info of [the RDAO] report studying driver earnings post-October 8 when Uber switched from time and distance pay with a rate card to AI-controlled, completely opaque pay calculations."

Even big names in the taxi industry are speaking out about the cap.

Beck Taxi Operations Manager Kristine Hubbard has been vocal about a lack of regulations in the rideshare industry, and argued that the proposed cap does little to address wages for operators.

Truth: The city managed driver pay until uber overtook council. Rates (still) set by the city, # of cars capped to maintain a living wage. Now they are trying to say taxi companies manage this. It’s just not true. The ones in charge of regulating are passing the buck. Literally. https://t.co/cLRrh40fxZ

— Kristine Hubbard (@KristineHubbard) December 3, 2024

Changes to vehicle-for-hire by-laws will be considered during a December 10 meeting of the City's executive committee, and, if approved during that session, will appear before City Council on December 17.