Mississauga gives Uber one week to shut down operations in the city

After the City of Mississauga voted unanimously to ban Uber last week, many people were surprised to find that they could still Uber to and within the city.

Now, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie has given Uber one week to pack it in. According to the mayor in an interview with the Toronto Star, she believes that the response the city received from Uber following the announcement is a sign of good will.

Crombie has become known in Mississauga as an advocate for ride-sharing, and has regularly supported Uber in the past. However, many of her fellow councillors don’t share this view, as they’ve often demonstrated a distaste for Uber and similar ride-sharing companies.

As of last week, Uber and other ride sharing companies were forced to leave the city of Mississauga unless they followed the same rules as the city’s taxicab industry. Though the vote was unanimous, councillors left the door open to potentially considering a ride-sharing pilot program in the future. It seems that the offer is conditional upon Uber’s exit from Mississauga by the end of the week.

The Star goes on to report that Uber already has 100,000 daily riders and 5,000 drivers, which leads officials to believe that exiting the city might be easier said than done. Crombie acknowledged that Uber would need adequate time to consider shutting down in order to prepare a pilot program for by September.

Mississauga councillors indicated that a ride sharing pilot program in the city would likely mimic those of cities who have passed ride sharing regulations. Furthermore, it’s likely that the pilot will be limited to a small number of vehicles.

Related reading: Mississauga bans UberX and other ride sharing services

[via]The Toronto Star[/via]