I find the statement that “hailing an Uber or Lyft is no different than calling a friend for a ride” misleading. A friend is someone who is known to you, and probably fairly well if you are calling them for a ride. This likely would not be the case with an Uber or Lyft driver.
Most who offer a ride to a friend do not expect payment, whereas the Uber or Lyft driver would require such, thus closer to one using the services of a regulated taxi service. Neither is one required when calling a friend to download an app to a smart phone and supply financial information to a foreign company to keep on file.
To refer to Uber and Lyft as ride-sharing services is a misnomer. You might share a ride with a friend to go to the same location at the same time, but hardly the case if you are the sole occupant in a vehicle going to a particular location.
Before we all jump on the ride-sharing bandwagon maybe we should inform ourselves as to all the consequences of such disruptive services, not just the potential of hailing a cheaper ride.
Janice Davis
Oak Bay