The undercover taxi drivers questioned the Uber driver on a variety of topics, including payment, licensing and vehicle ownership.
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The stern words came after a group of Ottawa taxi drivers secretly filmed themselves during an Uber ride in order to “prove to the city of Ottawa that taking Uber is illegal” – a tactic Ottawa’s mayor said made the group look like “thugs an bullies” after watching the video.
Uber representatives have declined to say how many drivers are operating, but Neufeld estimated there about 100 people providing rides through Uber.
Almost 150 charges have been laid against drivers accused of operating an Uber since the service launched in Ottawa in October 2014. 37 of them have pleaded guilty so far and the total of the fines is close to $22,000.
That’s nearly one-third the number of taxi licences in the region.
However, they did not post the driver’s name or personal information, as was done in the first undercover video.
“We were thrilled with the response from riders and drivers in Waterloo Region”, she said. Bordeleau does not like their idea and says authorities can’t just act on videos.
Amid the feud between the two driving services, Ottawa cracked down on Uber drivers Thursday night, with police and bylaw officers conducting a joint blitz that saw 32 charges laid.
“I’d be concerned this could escalate into something that we would have to get involved with, and certainly we want to prevent any escalation of the current situation”, Bordeleau said. The city has told the people collecting evidence to stop and call 311. Burlington’s city council rewrote this ordinance in 2009, but the the arrival of the ride-hailing company Uber, coupled with complaints about ineffective enforcement, prompted officials to undertake the task a second time. A few weeks ago, the service caused chaos in France, after taxi drivers started protesting and rioting.
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In Mexico, taxi drivers threatened to destroy cars and hunt down the drivers working for the service.
