As local ride hailing service Coastal Rides was already paying drivers at least $20.88 per engaged hour, minimum compensation rate changes for gig workers introduced effective Sept. 3 by the province won’t mean a major change to ride rates.
“We realized pretty early on that if we wanted people to deliver the service, we actually had to pay them appropriately…we have always been aware of how much it costs to operate a vehicle and what was needed in terms of compensating drivers to make ride hailing happen here,” said Coastal Rides owner Ryan Staley.
While ride hailing operators in other areas of B.C. may need to raise rates as much as 25 per cent, the new law, which also requires Work Safe coverage for drivers, may mean a 50 cent or less adjustment to Coastal Rides' base booking rate but not the firm’s other levies . No adjustments were introduced as of Sept. 6.
The ride hailing service’s local operations (the company also operates in the Comox Valley, Tofino, Campbell River and Ft. St. John) has about 20 drivers. According to Staley, most are part-timers with other jobs, but five or six of them work full time. Having Work Safe coverage for drivers whose sole income source comes from ride hailing, in his view, “is a real positive." That’s despite the addition of Work Safe coverage for drivers and calculating contribution amounts for that benefit being another administrative task for the firm.
Food delivery service won't continue
A local service that was being tried out over the past few months but won’t be continued due to the driver compensation rule changes is food delivery. Staley said, on the Coast, the distances between restaurants and where people live are larger than in big urban centres. Travel time and time that a driver may have to wait at a locale for a delivery to be ready for take out would have to be added in at the “engaged” rate. In most cases, that would add another $10 or more to the delivery charge, which likely would not be sustainable.
Growth despite tourism season challenges
Staley said Coastal Rides operations are growing in our area, mostly because it has more drivers and more availability than it did when it launched the service four years ago. He estimates the service is now providing between 50 and 100 ride hailed trips per day.
This summer, he has noticed weaker demand from visitors, which he relates to the reduction in the number of short-term rental units being available under updated rules for those operators. Another change that may have had an impact on demands in the most recent summer season the reduction in reservable sailings to Langdale on BC Ferries. Staley said that may have caused some travellers to reserve for their vacations at destinations other than the Sunshine Coast.
