Quispamsis could become the third local municipality to give its support to ridesharing companies.
On Tuesday, council unanimously passed the first and second reading of a proposed ridesharing bylaw.
Coun. Noah Donovan brought forward a motion in May asking staff to study the issue forward.
“It’s no secret that there is a shortage of transportation options throughout the Kennebecasis Valley,” Donovan said on May 3.
“Given this, I believe it would be prudent to allow staff to review this bylaw and come forward with more information.”
Ridesharing is a service that uses a mobile application to match passengers needing a ride with a vehicle owner. These services have become a popular transportation option for many years in larger communities.
Saint John became the first local municipality to pass its own bylaw in May, followed by Grand Bay-Westfield in June.
Amendments to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act introduced in 2020 paved the way for ridesharing services.
But each municipality is required to create its own bylaw to allow ridesharing services to operate in their communities.
Similar to the bylaw passed in Grand Bay-Westfield, ridesharing companies will not need to get a license from the town of Quispamsis to operate in the town.
But they will need to be “in good standing” and licensed by another municipality in the province, such as Saint John.
“As this is a regional service, and Saint John as the hub has an all-encompassing by-law, staff does not believe it is necessary to add an additional layer of bureaucracy or fees that might deter potential ridesharing companies,” said a staff report presented to council.
“This is consistent with our taxicab by-law that offers an exemption to licensed taxis from other jurisdictions when dropping off passengers in Quispamsis who were picked up outside the Town, or when picking up passengers in the Town for drop off elsewhere.”
Council will vote on the third and final reading of the proposed bylaw at a future meeting.
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