Greater Victoria will not be getting ride-hailing services any time soon after the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) rejected two local applications.
On Thursday the PTB announced that Uber and Lyft were approved to service the Lower Mainland and Whistler, but that applications from ReRyde Technologies Inc. and Kater Technologies Inc. to operate in the Capital Regional District (CRD) were rejected.
“The decisions were made after a careful review of the extensive materials received during the application process which included supporting information provided by the applicants and submissions from interested members of the public and stakeholders,” wrote the PTB in a press release.
READ MORE: Uber, Lyft approved for ride-hailing in Lower Mainland
So far, 29 ride hailing applications have been put forward, with decisions issued for six of them. Decisions are still pending for the other 23 applicants.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said that there’s still room for ride sharing in the future.
“We weren’t expecting Uber and Lyft to start in Victoria; it’s very logical to start in Vancouver to explore that market and we’ll see what happens here,” she said. “I’ve been in touch with folks from Lyft from the very beginning, they’re smart people and they are going to do their market test over there… I think it’s safe to say that our mobility future here does include ride sharing.”
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