Alberta Government Caves to Lyft ⇥ cbc.ca

In August, CBC News reported that Lyft was lobbying the Alberta government to remove commercial license requirements for ride hailing drivers. In comments made today about forthcoming changes to the province’s licensing system, it appears the government partly caved to its demands.

Bill Graveland, of the Canadian Press:

An additional road test will also no longer be mandatory to obtain a Class 4 driver’s licence, which is required to transport passengers in taxis, ride-share vehicles, limousines, small buses and ambulances.

To translate, while a commercial license will still be required, a driver’s skill will no longer be evaluated, though a knowledge test is still required. Disappointing, made doubly so by framing this as mere red tape.