Uber Toronto general manager Ian Black on why the city hates his company, and why John Tory doesn’t
Everyone has heard of Uber, but not everyone’s sure what it is. Help us out.
It’s a smartphone app: click a button and a car arrives within minutes. The options are regular taxi, black-car service or UberX, which is a fleet of cars owned and driven by regular people.
Is it just me, or does UberX sound like the start of a slasher flick?
Not at all. We do a criminal background check, which includes sexual offences, with zero tolerance for any lifetime violation. For DUIs, we won’t hire anyone with an offence, ever; some of the mainstream brokerages only go back five years, so we think ours is a safer platform. In fact, drivers from mainstream brokerages recently applied to be UberX drivers and they failed our checks.
Has UberX Toronto received any complaints of assault?
No. But if we did, we would respond within the hour, if not within minutes.
What percentage of your UberX drivers are male?
About 90 to 95 per cent—higher than we’d like it to be.
You don’t have kids, but if you did, would you let your 17-year-old daughter take UberX?
Not only that, but I’d encourage her to be a driver as soon as she was 21.
If my UberX driver gets in a car accident and mangles my leg, who do I sue?
If you sue the driver, he’ll be covered under his personal insurance. If that maxes out or doesn’t cover the driver, our $5-million policy kicks in.
Before starting at Uber, you went to Queen’s, did an MBA at INSEAD and worked as a management consultant at Bain and Co. I’m noticing a distinct lack of disrupter cred.
It’s true. I didn’t start a business out of a garage, I’m not 16, and I’m not a Silicon Valley hacker. But I do believe strongly that when a system is broken, just saying so isn’t acceptable.
Stop me when we get to your revolutionary of choice: Mahatma Gandhi…Nelson Mandela…Che Guevara—
Stop. But I’d be more like one of his second lieutenants.
Che Lite.
Exactly. Our CEO, Travis Kalanick, who’s based in San Francisco, is our rebel leader. I’m one of the guys who make his vision a reality.
What’s the most iconoclastic thing you’ve ever done?
I threw water balloons at cars on Halloween when I was 13. Then I got scared and went home.
What was your career dream as a boy growing up in St. John’s, Newfoundland?
Carpentry. When I was five, we had a carpenter working at our house for a few weeks, and he let me follow him around and hammer nails. I was convinced I had built my parents’ new house, and started telling people I was going to study carpentry at Yale. Years later, I realized I’m not handy at all, so I studied economics instead.
The head of Toronto’s licensing and standards division, Tracey Cook, is claiming you’re operating an illegal taxi business and is trying to shut you down. What’s your response?
We’re a technology company, not a taxi company. Think of Uber as a platform for drivers, rather than an old-school company that’s dispatching taxis.
I talked to the executives over at Beck Taxi. They’re pissed. They follow the rules; you don’t. What’s your message to them?
Innovate, be more creative and the rest will look after itself. Cab prices in Toronto are nearly double those in New York, and one and a half times most North American cities. It’s outrageous.
It’s pretty cocky to waltz into a city, ignore the regulations and then wait for the rules to adapt to suit your needs, isn’t it?
Another way to look at it is if you don’t bring in a new model, the old one will always exist. We see a lot of gaps that need to be fixed. We don’t think regulations are set in stone, never to change.
Have you asked to meet with the regulator?
Multiple times. No luck so far, but not for lack of trying.
John Tory seems to like what you’re doing. Is he a customer?
I don’t know. But we were thrilled by his comments about our type of technology being here to stay.
Under what circumstances would Uber close in Toronto?
When our city’s transportation system is perfect.
So in other words, never?
Correct.
Pretty awesome app – especially with the promo for the first ride free, https://www.uber.com/invite/uberfreerideTO
Customers love Uber (I’m one) and so do Drivers in all 3 categories (I always ask). It’s a valuable service, even if the company’s management practices often leave something to be desired. I’m sure that carriage manufacturers were not too keen on auto makers 100 years ago. That’s how it goes.
Hailo was great. Sorry that it left.
I actually wonder if this whole business with the licensing and standards division hasn’t ended up being a boon for them. I’d heard of Uber, but had never bothered to use or even download the app. However once the City (minus the Mayor) started coming after them, and the subsequent press coverage, which explained in detail how the service worked, I thought I would give it a shot just to see what all the fuss is about. I’m a fan – I’ve used black car and “regular” taxi (which in the latter case, was a Diamond Taxi driver on the way there, and a Co-op driver on the way back). I’m hooked – great service. I can’t see why I would bother calling Beck (or using their mediocre app) again.
What happened to the Toronto Taxi Commission?’ The Taxi service has run a muck there used to be rules, what happened to the rules?
I called a beck taxi yesterday… by phone. I had cash so I figured why not? Then realized I only had a $50 bill. I didn’t think I should have had to, but called back anyway just to ask the dispatcher to make sure the cab they send could actually change a 50 (expecting a $10 fare down Yonge). They argue, make me feel like a jerk for not being a more convenient customer and tell me they can’t guarantee they will be able to make change. So I asked to make sure they send a car that accepts debit (which carries a $1 surcharge because these nimrods can’t make change). Get in the cab, tell driver where I am going (even though I already told the dispatcher). But driver doesn’t have technology in his car and doesn’t know he can’t get south on Yonge from Carlton. So he makes a right instead; goes the wrong way until he finds a place to turn us around. The whole time the meter is running. A $10 fare turns into a $17 and it takes almost twice as long as it should have to get where I am going. There is no recourse, no refunds, and Beck will never do anything about this shitty service. What my experience with Uber has been like on the same ride: click app on my phone to request a pickup. Enter my destination. Driver arrives, with all coordinates already in his GPS. Driver verifies the info and asks if the route plan is acceptable. The ride is less than $10, paid automatically by CC, and if there was anything, ANYTHING wrong with my ride… I would have the opportunity to rate the driver/ride knowing that after several bad ratings the drivers are re-evaluated. If the traditional Taxi model is any good then Uber would not be a threat. PS. You can request a regulated taxi from the UBER app if you actually believe that all the excess administration makes you safer.
Too bad the reporter didn’t do his homework and challen Ian Black a little more. An UberX driver in a car accident will have his personal car insurance cancelled, possibly be charged with insurance fraud for not having commercial insurance, and face personal liability. That small fact and the 100% difference in insurance cost is why traditional taxis cost more…
Nice bit of spam there, Bob.
If your logic stands, then why do taxis cost almost twice as much as New York? Is it because you are a beck employee?
PROMO code #uberfreecanada
doesn’t matter what new York charge. we live in Toronto.so we have to follow what Toronto rules says. And uber is not just technogly provider.uber charges customers based on kilometers.so how can they say they are just technology providers?
Mr. Black, if you are actually interested in more women joining your team then watch your male centered language.
Listen, no one’s forcing you to use Uber. If you prefer the old outdated model and higher prices, take a taxi. It’s not a case of one or the other. Why do you care if other people want to use Uber, as long as you still have the option of taking a taxi?
I agree with all the points you’ve made.
Your one recourse on the $17 vs $10 would be to ask for a receipt. The receipt must show start point, finish point, fare and time. You can then report the driver to the city as the most direct route was not taken and apply for a refund.
Of course, all this kind of hits your point home in the fact that the onus is on you to make sure the driver does their job, not the company or the driver themselves.
The statement regarding insurance is not accurate
Anyone who is using their automobile for commercial purposes such as being an Uber driver must advise their insurance company they are doing so. If they do not advise the insurance company, when the insurance company finds out about the change in use, their insurance may not be valid and the policy would most likely be cancelled by the insurance company. If they were involved in a collision, except for some Accident Benefits coverage, there would be no coverage under the policy.
That was a quote from the Insurance Bureau of Canada
How many Uber x drivers have informed their private insurance company of this change of usage? Next to none because they know they will lose their private car insurance policies if they did. Now, do these drivers know the penalties for insurance fraud? Lying by omission is still lying.I called up a couple of insurance companies and they told me that they would deny me coverage if I drove for Uber.
I am all for competition and innovation but it has to played according to the same rules. Cab drivers pay just under $10 000/year for commercial insurance. Oh and by the way, do you think these Uber drivers are claiming the added income on their income tax?
Because the insurance in canada is higher because chinese people in toronto, fill up vans and crash them and then file phoney insurance claims.
Uber doesn’t have to follow regulations, they don’t have to spend 6k in licensing, don’t have to spend 3k to pass inspection every 6 months, don’t have to take cpr training, don’t have to spend a ton on licensing fees from the city. If Uber is successful taxes will go up, because someone will have to fill the cash shortfall when drivers stop paying licensing fees.
Pffft.
Tough call: dying vs. getting CPR from a cabbie
Right you are Loony. I am a licensed insurance Broker and in Ontario, no insurance company will write a personal lines policy for a client who is known to be a Uber Driver or any driver who drives for compensation. They should have a Taxi drivers commercial policy as the exposure as a driver is much greater that when driving their vehicles for personal use. I have to assume that those who are driving their vehicles under Uber have not disclosed this material change in risk to their Insurance companies.
And our smart Mayor is supporting all this, without advising these Uber drivers about their Insurance Policy needs. Who’s going to answer to the Law when something terrible happens… and it will… Then all hell will break loose.
none of these taxi drivers claim their taxes and their wives are on welfare and they get child benefits which pay their bills… many of them have big homes which are worth near a million$ which even doctors and lawyers can’t afford… the government needs to first audit all of these taxi drivers… many of them take a whole load of money back to their countries and then bring it back and show the government that their relatives gave them as gifts so they could buy property in Canada… taxi drivers are a disgrace to the honest society Canada is trying to build… they are not paying taxes, plus they’re taking money from tax payers by telling the government they don’t make money… pretty much they are feeding themselves and their families money which they earned by lying… what a disgrace!!! and if you ever take a taxi downtown, the guy charges $4 something taxi meter fee, plus the $10 ride, plus expects $8 tip to make it a full $20… if you leave your iPhone in the cab, they immediately take it, get it decoded and give it to their women to sell in their country next time they are gone to see their folks… i fully support uber as long as the the government has a way to monitor how much uber drivers are making… otherwise we’ll have lots of taxis parked outside of homes in the bridal path areas since this is already beginning to happen.