Why John Tory is Half-right on Über

... but only half-right.

There are multiple disturbing allegations against Über - work conditions, safety, privacy violations. In addition, the way it is set up makes it easy to assimilate to a taxi-hailing service with unlicensed drivers. There are lots of concerns which the city legitimately has.

However, it is also true that there is technological pressure which will cause realignment in the taxi industry, and Über does represent that change. The final successful implementation may be very different from Über; just as Über, to succeed, may need to accept some form of municipal licensing regime.

The key thing to note is that the city does promote ride-sharing, and as long as both taxis and ride-sharing are allowed, an application in a final form will be able to walk right up to the boundary while staying on the legal side.

(Imagine, for example, a "club" to which one can belong which allows drivers to register trips with origins, times, and destinations, to be shared at a flat rate to compensate for gas and wear / depreciation. This doesn't look like Über, but it does look a lot like ride-sharing, and would stand a better chance of withstanding a legal challenge.)