Kater Ride Hailing ?

[nmjoff]

My thoughts are that this is just an attempt to pacify the taxi / cab monopoly in Vancouver trying to avoid the introduction of Uber and Lyft?
I understand that the taxi industry is involved in "Kater" and this is just an attempt by the provincial government to kiss ass...

Opinions?

 

[Stamkos]

My thoughts are that this is just an attempt to pacify the taxi / cab monopoly in Vancouver trying to avoid the introduction of Uber and Lyft?
I understand that the taxi industry is involved in "Kater" and this is just an attempt by the provincial government to kiss ass...

Opinions?

Totally agree.

The first clue is the stamp on the front side of the car - “Black Top Cab” or “Yellow Cab”.
Don’t phukking patronize us!! This is just another cab for crissake!!!

What a joke watching tourists trying to wave down cabs that fly by them. A city of this size and stature and we let the cab companies rule our transportation options.

An emabassment!!! :frusty:

 

[licks2nite]

If Uber or Lyft make it into British Columbia be sure to pay cash so that the driver can keep as much of the money as possible. Uber and Lyft apps are apt to suck 25% off the top and straight out of the British Columbia economy if you pay by credit card. Use a regular Vancouver cab company if you have to call in. Hailing Uber or Lyft directly on the street would be okay since the driver wouldn't have to report the ride to anyone including Revenue Canada. Don't get me started on how dense Canadian governments and Canadian business is about not writing a made in British Columbia ride hailing app, and deserve lots of drivers who aren't reporting income.

 

[badbadboy]

If Uber or Lyft make it into British Columbia be sure to pay cash so that the driver can keep as much of the money as possible. Uber and Lyft apps are apt to suck 25% off the top and straight out of the British Columbia economy if you pay by credit card. Use a regular Vancouver cab company if you have to call in. Hailing Uber or Lyft directly on the street would be okay since the driver wouldn't have to report the ride to anyone including Revenue Canada. Don't get me started on how dense Canadian governments and Canadian business is about not writing a made in British Columbia ride hailing app, and deserve lots of drivers who aren't reporting income.

I just got back from SoCal and Ubered twice a day. First off, your account is activated with a valid credit card and when you choose your service like UberX, it tells you the amount to be charged to your card.

I tried to tip a driver in cash and he refused the cash and told me to tip via the app.

It seems the Taxi industry here in BC owns the Govt of the day. Libs didn’t put ride sharing in place and NDP will offer some lame alternative. Last I heard the NDP wouldn’t allow multiple zone travel via ride sharing. Both Uber and Lyft said they would never agree to it.

What’s the status of the Asian app used in Richmond? That could be rolled out with both the Govt and taxis having no say in the matter.

 

[masonjar]

Only place I've been that Uber drivers accepted cash was all the Somalian drivers in Minnesota (almost every Uber driver), they rip Uber off by cancelling trips and demand cash, and they rip you off by demanding higher than the amount Uber quotes you in the app, by claiming they're suddenly busy with bigger riders and you have to get out after you get into their car if you don't pay. Most of the time, the dude driving isn't even the dude in the profile of your driver in your app.

Stick to credit card the way the app was designed it's for everyone's safety and sanity. Let us enjoy ride sharing if it ever actually comes and don't ruin it by cheating them.

 

[JimDandy]

Two points to make:

First point - the services that Uber and Lyft provide are "ride hailing", not "ride sharing". Ride sharing is when the driver is going to make the same trip regardless of picking up passengers and defrays some of their costs by sharing the cost of the ride with passenger(s). I use such a service very frequently when travelling back and forth to Whistler. It is called Poparide.com It is a fantastic service!!! But it will not help you in Vancouver since the driver is only allowed to charge a minimal amount per kilometer which would make picking up passengers and dropping them off in the same city not financially practical.

Second point - the NDP are indentured to the East Indian community since it was the EI community that gave them their very minimal majority over the Liberals (with the help of the Greens). And guess who own the taxi industry in the lower mainland? Enough said. The the NDP will never allow Uber and Lyft to compete in any meaningful way against the local taxi companies as long as they are in power.

And btw, I am not in any way biased against the EI community here in BC. Some of my best friends are "brown" as they like to describe themselves. And if my livelihood depended on a taxi business, I would also do everything in my power to protect it. My previous paragraph was just stating what is likely a well known fact to most of the people on this site already.

JD

 

[badbadboy]

Two points to make:

First point - the services that Uber and Lyft provide are "ride hailing", not "ride sharing". Ride sharing is when the driver is going to make the same trip regardless of picking up passengers and defrays some of their costs by sharing the cost of the ride with passenger(s). I use such a service very frequently when travelling back and forth to Whistler. It is called Poparide.com It is a fantastic service!!! But it will not help you in Vancouver since the driver is only allowed to charge a minimal amount per kilometer which would make picking up passengers and dropping them off in the same city not financially practical.

Second point - the NDP are indentured to the East Indian community since it was the EI community that gave them their very minimal majority over the Liberals (with the help of the Greens). And guess who own the taxi industry in the lower mainland? Enough said. The the NDP will never allow Uber and Lyft to compete in any meaningful way against the local taxi companies as long as they are in power.

And btw, I am not in any way biased against the EI community here in BC. Some of my best friends are "brown" as they like to describe themselves. And if my livelihood depended on a taxi business, I would also do everything in my power to protect it. My previous paragraph was just stating what is likely a well known fact to most of the people on this site already.

JD

Uber now has UberPool which is ride sharing as we know it.

 

[licks2nite]

British Columbia, if you use either Uber or Lyft, remember that 25% of the price you pay for the fare might go straight out of the economy that impacts your own standard of living. Traditional taxi companies in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and drivers may likely be immigrant owned and operated but your Canadian cash at least has a better chance of staying in your own community. Let the tourists ride Uber and Lyft if tourists have to see their cash leaving Canada.

The Kater ride app is billing itself as a Vancouver company but do British Columbians know for certain that money for ride fare is staying in Canada? Was the Kater app created in British Columbia? And all the unlicensed Asian ride apps currently in use in Richmond B.C. are in Asian languages. Can you really expect the operator of such Asian apps to be in British Columbia and not siphoning off a portion of the fare to Asia? How gullible can British Columbians be to let their own standard of living deteriorate with such assaults on their own economy.

 

[nwtl]

British Columbia, if you use either Uber or Lyft, remember that 25% of the price you pay for the fare might go straight out of the economy that impacts your own standard of living. Traditional taxi companies in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and drivers may likely be immigrant owned and operated but your Canadian cash at least has a better chance of staying in your own community. Let the tourists ride Uber and Lyft if tourists have to see their cash leaving Canada.

The Kater ride app is billing itself as a Vancouver company but do British Columbians know for certain that money for ride fare is staying in Canada? Was the Kater app created in British Columbia? And all the unlicensed Asian ride apps currently in use in Richmond B.C. are in Asian languages. Can you really expect the operator of such Asian apps to be in British Columbia and not siphoning off a portion of the fare to Asia? How gullible can British Columbians be to let their own standard of living deteriorate with such assaults on their own economy.

Taxi service and attitude here are a disaster, no thank you. Immigrant owned? Not sure what that reference hints at but it’s more like a mafia than a business.

 

[licks2nite]

Taxi service and attitude here are a disaster, no thank you. Immigrant owned? Not sure what that reference hints at but it’s more like a mafia than a business.

Wish that I had something to say to you to interest you in the importance of the British Columbia economy over that of getting the attitude that you want from a cab driver. Everybody, everywhere has an attitude of some sort. This is just another example of British Columbia's badly managed economy that had already run rampant laundering money as a source of foreign income.

 

[Lo-ki]

I took a cab in Port Moody.....then noticed the driver didn't turn on the meter......so I asked him to turn it on...he said he didn't have to because it was a flat rate....
So when I got to where I wanted to go I told him.... wasn't paying him a penny.... he said he would call the cops and I told him ...go ahead call them.
The law says you have to turn the meter on ....he told me to get out...and he drove away.
I had written his name caby # and called the cab company and reported him.

 

[nwtl]

Wish that I had something to say to you to interest you in the importance of the British Columbia economy over that of getting the attitude that you want from a cab driver. Everybody, everywhere has an attitude of some sort. This is just another example of British Columbia's badly managed economy that had already run rampant laundering money as a source of foreign income.

I am very much interested in BC economy, I just don't think the BC taxi mafia is really BC economy

I find this quite applicable: https://twitter.com/bctaximafia

 

[licks2nite]

I am very much interested in BC economy, I just don't think the BC taxi mafia is really BC economy

I find this quite applicable: https://twitter.com/bctaximafia

Here's the document that your tweet link is trying to sell to the public:

https://t.co/LEiQBAtfV0
Assessing and Reforming
Vancouver’s Taxi Regulations
by Benn Proctor
B.A. (Economics), University of Victoria, 2009

After I got out of the Canadian military with supervisory experience in 2 good technical trades and found nothing in the British Columbia economy for me, I drove taxi for 4 Lower Mainland taxi companies. Strictly as a driver with a class-4 license I was paid 45% straight off the top of the fare. Except for one small company where all the licenses were owned by the company, perhaps half the cars of the larger firms are owned by individuals. A license for each car. Had no idea what a license was worth and didn't bother to try to find out. The owners loved my driving and said so because I made money, didn't get into any accidents nor make complaints about customers. Passengers taken to a neighbouring municipality were allowed to book a return ride with the same company.

Only browsed Benn Proctor's document but I saw the crux of his argument. Proctor finds fault in companies not picking up fares outside the municipality that the car is licenced in.

 

[masonjar]

Cab drivers in this city are the worst people they are selfish don't follow traffic rules and congest the roads with lazy stopping, careless driving etc not to mention they are rude and annoying when you are in their cars, I rather walk if I have time or take uber if they were here kater is same cab crap with a shiny new paint on top.

 

[licks2nite]

Cab drivers in this city are the worst people they are selfish don't follow traffic rules and congest the roads with lazy stopping, careless driving etc not to mention they are rude and annoying when you are in their cars, I rather walk if I have time or take uber if they were here kater is same cab crap with a shiny new paint on top.

When I was a cab driver nearly every driver and owner were Caucasian. But I guess that has changed quite a bit. If I have anywhere to go now I either walk or ride public transit.

 

[uncleg]

Careful what you wish for, Uber is in a lot of trouble in a lot of places. Toronto let them drive with regular DL's...now after a couple deaths and numerous other issues Toronto in bringing back the requirement for a professional licence.

Uber and Lyft have both finally admitted that in the cities where they operate they do contribute to increased traffic congestion and pollution, at least in North America.

Kater is a co-operative of taxi licences that the companies couldn't put on the road as regular taxi's...they don't have the drivers for them. The only thing hey have in common is the dispatch system. Drivers are even paid at different rates throughout the Kater system. All of them have to have chauffeurs permits for each of the municipalities they drive in.
If Uber comes, and I believe they will, Kater will collapse. About 80% of the Kater drivers already have the Uber or Lyft apps on their phones ready to drive for either or both of the companies. I can only guess as to how many of the cabbies that are lease drivers are in the same position. You might see Uber and Lyft on the road as a bonus, but how much if it means a reduction in the cab fleet by the same amount....and you end up with the same drivers.