Uber warns of higher prices and longer wait times following Toronto’s decision to freeze new licences
The price hike is likely to affect thousands of GTA drivers
By Chris O’Malley
6 November 2018
Carpooling giant Uber is warning passengers to brace for higher prices and longer wait times following the City of Toronto’s (CSTO) decision to suspend new driver-licence applications for six months.
The city’s executive committee has also frozen the total number of driver-licence spots for 2019, and will not be able to expand any of them.
“The price increase is likely to affect thousands of GTA drivers,” says Uber Canada CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
“Drivers who are in the process of applying for a licence will see the cost of a licence go up by 25-50%, however, no one driving today will pay that price. More than 2,700 drivers in the GTA have applied for a driver licence in the last year. That means the majority of those drivers are already earning a substantial income from driving.”
Uber has advised drivers to find another job immediately.
According to the company, the price increase will likely be passed on to passengers, who will see higher prices in the first instance.
It has also warned drivers to be on alert for longer wait times after the decision, as the city faces further delays in revising the process, which could take another six to twelve months.
What the city needs to do, according to Uber, is “put the process in motion” by revising rules to allow the increase in driver-licence fees to take effect.
The company has also warned that it is likely to have to hire more staff to cope with the additional volume of drivers applying for licences.
“To put it simply, the number of cars driving in the GTA today is over two million and we’re looking at even more traffic,” says