Uber in Waterloo Region

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Regional Councilor Sean Strickland has been in the news talking about Uber in Waterloo Region.  Local taxi drivers have complained that making more licences available will reduce the value of their licences, some of which cost $300,000 to purchase.  Since the Region regulates the licences, they could be on the hook if they dramatically reduce the value of the licences.  Would it be in the Region's best interest to buy out every licence and then re-issue cheaper licences based on a new fee model?

They $300,000 isn't the cost to purchase from the Region - it's the grey market value of the license due to supply restriction. The Region doesn't owe the taxi companies and license holders anything, and they could change the regulatory scheme tomorrow if they wanted.

While the taxi licencing system certainly sounds expensive and perhaps is  an onerous system, I can't see how it doesn't fit into an ongoing economic model + have safety standards built into it.

I have glossed over the UBER website and it basically says if I am over 21, have a licence, have a 4 door car and have my own personal insurance I am good to go.

The existing Waterloo Region taxi licensing system has no meaningful safety standards built into it. The Region doesn't verify much about the drivers, and it is hardly apparent what, if anything, the taxi companies verify. Until the media started reporting on it, it seems the taxi companies cared little about the sexual assaults committed by their own drivers (and didn't report anything to the Region).

Uber, Lyft, and others in the same model have some standard checks. But the most important part is the driver rating system. If your driver is careless or creeps you out, you give them a bad rating. Drivers with low ratings get kicked out, and (at least for Lyft), you won't get a driver again if you've rated them poorly.