Whereas Bill 55, the BC Passenger Transportation Amendment Act which took effect September 16, 2019, imposes a 0.30 fee for each non-accessible vehicle trip, but otherwise does not oblige passenger directed vehicles PDVs to a timeline or otherwise mandate a percentage of all fleet vehicles be accessible; And whereas according to statistics from the Passenger Transportation Board, about 14 per cent of taxis in the province and about 19 per cent in Metro Vancouver are accessible and in other jurisdictions transportation network services app-based ride hailing services have demonstrated an ability to provide accessible vehicles as part of their fleet and business model: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the provincial government to work in consultation with the passenger directed vehicle industry, disability community, and local government representatives in order to design and implement a wheelchair accessibility guarantee for all PDV fleets that support a minimum percent of all fleets are guaranteed to be wheelchair accessible, sufficient to ensure that transportation options for persons with disabilities are equal to those provided to nondisabled persons in all PDV fleets.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure The ministry is committed to working with the accessibility community to improve and expand transportation options. Consultation with advocates of the accessibility community has been ongoing over the years and involves many areas of government. Leading up to the introduction of ride-hailing to BC, the government consulted with several groups including the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Disability Alliance of BC and the Seniors Advocate. Amendments to the Passenger Transportation Act in September 2019 are a result of these consultations, which include the collection of the 0.30 per trip fee and the allowance of side-entry accessible vehicles in addition to rear-entry. The Passenger Transportation Board is collecting data on the number of trips taken in accessible vehicles to support evidence-based decision making. Accessibility is a top priority for the government, and ministry staff are working to determine the use of the per trip fee. While other jurisdictions have taken two years or longer to fund accessibility programs with trip fee revenue, the ministry is currently exploring options to determine how to leverage these fees to enhance accessibility and service quality.