Ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft could be coming to Mission as early as June.
Council voted unanimously on bylaws at Monday’s (May 1) meeting that would allow ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to operate in Mission as soon as June 1.
The City of Mission is one of three new municipalities that is proposed to join 25 others already participating in an Inter-Municipal Business Licence (IMBL) agreement for ride-hailing companies in the Lower Mainland.
The IMBL allows ride-hailing companies to purchase a single licence to operate in all participating municipalities. The current companies with licenses under the agreement are Uber, Lyft, Whistle, Kabu and Apt Rides.
“Councillor Davies in particular has been uber-excited about this particular item. It’s giving him quite the lift in his spirits today,” Mission Mayor Paul Horn said at council.
Coun. Mark Davies was grateful to the 25 municipalities that revised the bylaw so that Mission could join.
“It’s been a long haul,” Davies said. “People have been asking for this for a long time.”
Ride-hailing was legalized in B.C. in 2019 and the BC Passenger Transportation Board established five regions throughout the province for companies to potentially operate.
Mission is a part of Region 1, which includes 32 communities from the Fraser Valley, Metro Vancouver and Squamish-Lillooet.
The districts of Kent and Hope are also set to join the agreement, pending approval from their respective councils.
Four of the 32 municipalities will remain out of the agreement.
“To allow new entrants to the IMBL, each participating municipality must approve and enact a new IMBL agreement and bylaws,” a report to council reads.
“The City of Vancouver will be providing the final agreement documents once all participating municipalities have ratified the IMBL agreement and bylaws with their respective council.”
According to the report , there were several meetings with provincial and municipal representatives of participating municipalities to include Mission, Hope and Kent in the IMBL ride-hailing program.
The timeline for councils to approve reports is in either April or May with the final agreement implementation slated for June 1.
Since 2020, the City of Vancouver has overseen the ride-hailing business licence for 25 municipalities in the Region 1 boundary.
Vancouver issues the licences and revenue with participating municipalities at the end of each year. The revenue split is determined by the per cent of total regional pick-ups and drop-offs in each municipality, based on information provided by the licensed companies.
Mission taxi companies were consulted and stated no objections to the introduction of ride-hailing, according to the report.
Pending final approval, it would be legal for ride-hailing companies to operate in Mission on June 1, but an official start date would be determined by respective companies.
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