august 2015 BCBusiness 25
course, where Uber is still begging to be let in.
Ohio-born Casebolt, his classmates and doz-
ens of others are doing this just 200 kilome-
tres down the road in Seattle, where the city
council voted to allow Uber, along with other
ride-hailing operations like Lyft and Sidecar, to
operate as of last July. It was the fourth major
West Coast city to allow this disruptive new
business that launched -ve years ago in San
Francisco, even though traditional taxi driv-
ers protested in the street to try to prevent it.
Portland became the -fth in late April—although
for a 120-day trial only, with strict conditions
and a demand that Uber and other ride-hail-
ing businesses turn over their data to the city
as part of the pilot. That leaves Vancouver
as the only holdout among major cities on the
West Coast, after B.C.'s provincial government
and various city councils in Metro Vancouver
have successfully stalled Uber's entry for the
last three years. (The province, cities, the taxi
industry and Uber are currently holding joint
meetings to discuss how to proceed, but it's
a slow process and one where details on how
things are going are scarce.)
But any observer has to wonder how long the
-nger can remain in the dike, as Uber—along
with all the other ride-hailing apps—tantalizes
both drivers and customers with the concept of
a city where they can come together in a second
on a smartphone screen. No more waiting for
one of the few licensed taxis to -nally appear
OF SHARERS
WOULD
RECOMMEND
THE LAST
SHARING SERVICE
THEY USED*
91%
* sourcE: "sHaring is tHE nEW buying," vision critical, 2014
Air BNB (Moscow) Craigslist
