Mayor reaches out to Uber for perspective on transportation
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The City continues to gather information from various resources as it works to update the Grande Prairie Transportation Master Plan.
Mayor Bill Given says he reached out to Uber Canada Inc. for their perspective on what the future of transportation looks like.
“I think it is fair to acknowledge that transportation technology is changing very rapidly. We haven’t seen a huge amount of that change in Grande Prairie yet. It is City Council’s job to ensure that we are prepared for any kind of future that may come,” said Given. “We want to make sure we put our community in a good place to respond.”
In a letter addressed to Given, Michael van Hemmen of Uber urges policymakers to question their historical opinions on parking, streets designed for pick-ups and drop-offs, and transit system design. Hemmen writes that “where practical, cities should consider partnerships with ridesharing companies to augment and extend the reach of their public transit network”.
The mayor says the city needs to be prepared for what’s to come in general, not specifically the app coming to the Swan City.
“It was about planning. Having said that, the City of Grande Prairie is open to innovative new approaches and we would absolutely have to respond if any of these types of companies showed interest in our community.”
