More than three years after it began operating in Metro Vancouver, ride-hailing giant Uber has received approval to operate elsewhere in British Columbia.
The province’s Passenger Transportation Board announced Wednesday that it had approved an application from ReRyde Technologies Inc. to transfer its licence to Uber Canada Inc.
The PTB approved Uber to operate in Region 1 of the province – the Lower Mainland and Whistler – in late-January 2020.
ReRyde applied at that time to operate in Regions 2 (Capital Regional District), 3 (Vancouver Island outside the CRD), 4 (Okanagan–Kootenay-BoundaryCariboo) and 5 (everywhere else in the province). Its initial application was rejected, but a subsequent one was approved in August 2020.
Wednesday’s approval will allow Uber to assume ReRyde’s licence to operate in the specified regions, though the company has said it intends to start by operating only in the Victoria and Kelowna areas.
As a condition of its approval, Uber must provide the PTB three months’ notice if it plans to begin offering ride-hailing service in Region 3 or Region 5.
Uber Canada celebrated the news on its Twitter account, claiming “tens of thousands” of people in Kelowna and Victoria have signed up to ride, and that it plans to launch “soon.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates
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