Ontario to PickUpPal – cease and desist!!!
I stumbled upon reading an article found on the Toronto Star about a popular ridesharing service called “PickUpPal”. The article states that a bus company called Trentway-Wagar (aka Coach Canada) did a private insider audit on PickUpPal. The information that Trentway-Wagar had collected was submitted to the Ontario Highway Transportation Board. Now, Trentway has asked the province that PickUpPal should be banned to operate in this province. It’s not the first time this had happened. A Quebec based service called “Allo Stop” was completely sacked from operating in the province.
As for PickUpPal, it had violated many sections of the Public Vehicles Act, which governs any company where money is exchanged for a public transportation service. PickUpPal is a very popular service. It was used during this year’s Vans Warped Tour and it is anticipated that it will be the prime solution for the upcoming Virgin Festival held in Toronto’s Centre Island on September 6th and 7th.
In “retaliation”, the PickUpPal organizers decided to launch a petition against the foreclosure of the organization from operating in the province. You can view the petition here. The coverage was well publicized.
References:
“Bus company tries to shutter web-based ride service.” Arts Technica. 22 August 2008. 27 August 2008. <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080822-bus-company-tries-to-shutter-web-based-ride-share-service.html>
“Trentway-Wagar goes after PickupPal.” p2pnet news. 21 August 2008. 27 August 2008. <http://www.p2pnet.net/story/16805>
“Online Company Under Fire For Offering Carpooling Service.” Citynews.ca. 21 August 2008. 27 August 2008. <http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_26025.aspx>
“Bus firm calls online car pool illegal service.” Toronto Star. 21 August 2008. 27 August 2008. <http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/482653>
