Changes

=== Why Uber? ===

=== Why Uber? ===

There are several competing ridesharing services, of which Uber is the largest, however Uber's early adoption as a platform for ridesharing in the GC is for reasons of capacity. In Ottawa, Uber has traditional been the sole service platform with a fully developed and tested corporate service offering. Lyft has hoped to launch an equivalent service by 2020 and local taxi companies are developing their own ridehailing apps as well which will ultimately have a corporate service as well. Thus while it can be expected that there will be a multiplicity of platforms available to public servants in the future, Uber had initially started as the default platform for so many departments due to a lack of viable alternatives.  

There are several competing ridesharing services, of which Uber is the largest, however Uber's early adoption as a platform for ridesharing in the GC is for reasons of capacity. In Ottawa, Uber has traditional been the sole service platform with a fully developed and tested corporate service offering. Lyft has hoped to launch an equivalent service by 2020 and local taxi companies are developing their own ridehailing apps as well which will ultimately have a corporate service as well. Thus while it can be expected that there will be a multiplicity of platforms available to public servants in the future, Uber had initially started as the default platform for so many departments due to a lack of viable alternatives.  

== Departmental Ridesharing - A How to Guide ==

== Departmental Ridesharing - A How to Guide ==

The feasibility of departmental ridesharing is subject to much of the same kinds of departmental lore that tend to afflict many new initiatives. As a core premise it should be stated clearly and unequivocally that there are no rules, procedures, policies, guidelines, regulations, statues or other form of restrictions which prevent GC entities from adopting departmental ridesharing. The relative lack of these services is due solely to force of habit and their relative novelty as a service. This does not in turn make further adoption a clear-cut case as changing processes takes time and patience, however with transformation occurring ever more rapidly and ridehailing having been commonplace in most jurisdictions for over a decade, the case for departmental ridesharing offerings is a strong one.

The feasibility of departmental ridesharing is subject to much of the same kinds of departmental lore that tend to afflict many new initiatives. As a core premise it should be stated clearly and unequivocally that there are no rules, procedures, policies, guidelines, regulations, statues or other form of restrictions which prevent GC entities from adopting departmental ridesharing. The relative lack of these services is due solely to force of habit and their relative novelty as a service. This does not in turn make further adoption a clear-cut case as changing processes takes time and patience, however with transformation occurring ever more rapidly and ridehailing having been commonplace in most jurisdictions for over a decade, the case for departmental ridesharing offerings is a strong one.

Successful deployments to date have been marked with several key criteria:   

Successful deployments to date have been marked with several key criteria:   

1) High level policy cover: often, although not necessarily from the departmental CIO. In successful cases, policy cover has come from CIOs, ADMs and DGs with an appetite for experimentation and improvement.

1) '''High level policy cover''': often, although not necessarily from the departmental CIO. In successful cases, policy cover has come from CIOs, ADMs and DGs with an appetite for experimentation and improvement.

2) Early Adopters: Departmental ridesharing need a group of early adoptors that are comfortable with ridesharing (or willing to learn!) and are willing to take the time to help others learn and test the system.

2) '''Early Adopters''': Departmental ridesharing need a group of early adoptors that are comfortable with ridesharing (or willing to learn!) and are willing to take the time to help others learn and test the system.

3) Support from Finance: The group whose work will be most directly effected by departmental ridesharing is corporate finance and so it is important to speak with these individuals early on. Finance also has the most to benefit.

3) '''Support from Finance''': The group whose work will be most directly effected by departmental ridesharing is corporate finance and so it is important to speak with these individuals early on. Finance also has the most to benefit.

4) User Guides: Hey! Its the GC: we love user guides. Making new user guides can be a laborious process and feel unnecessary for something like Uber, so I've done you a solid and included the TC user guide which can be plagiarized at will ;-D[[File:UBER USER GUIDE (TC).pdf|thumb]]

4) '''User Guides''': Hey! Its the GC: we love user guides. Making new user guides can be a laborious process and feel unnecessary for something like Uber, so I've done you a solid and included the TC user guide which can be plagiarized at will ;-D[[File:UBER USER GUIDE (TC).pdf|thumb]]

=== Advantages of Ridesharing for the GC ===

=== Addressing Concerns about Ridesharing ===

Ridesharing platforms offer benefits to users and the institutional GC alike. Ridesharing platforms offer greater convenience to users, more accessibility features for people with disabilities, the ability the schedule rides in advance and better plan out travel, share to location with teammates, reduce wait times for vehicles and to provide greater clarity in directions to drivers. Users are also able to leverage promotions from frequent usage across personal and departmental payment methods offering a perk somewhat akin to travel points, and similarly garner a higher quality of driver if they themselves maintain a high rating, with members of the Transport Canada pilot roll-out anecdotally noting a higher level of professionalism among drivers.

There has been some ideological opposition in some quarters to ridesharing as a system, which affords freelance drivers less earnings per ride than taxi drivers. Some have argued that this in unfair for drivers and that the GC cannot be seen as supporting a system that pays drivers less. While especially common in the early days of ridesharing where taxi companies mounted a strong an concerted opposition to ridesharing platforms and lobbied to make the practice illegal, this line of argument less and less common as ridesharing has become more prevalent both in the GC and in wider society. This has come with a growing understanding of what it means to be a freelancing platform. There is also a strong impetus for government to obtain good value for money in its purchases, raising questions about the extent to which public servants should be expected to intentionally overpay for services.

From an institutional standpoint, departmental ridehailing platforms are significantly less onerous on departmental finance departments, eliminating tasks that are time-intensive and tedious while freeing up time for more complex tasks. Departmental ridehailing platforms offer much greater accountability, showing the exact route, time and cost per ride, and offering the availability to rapidly identify variations that might indicate fraud. Preliminary research from CSPS and Transport Canada suggested an overall cost-saving of roughly 40% compared to the medallion (taxi chit) system which is the default used in the government of Canada, which tends to cost more per ride while charging an administration fee on top of each fare.

The most important observation is that the adoption of departmental ridesharing is not accompanied by the exclusion or elimination of alternatives and no public servants will be required to take a rideshare versus any other form of transportation. Departmental ridesharing is about providing more options to the GC and empowering public servants with all the tools that will help them to do their best work. All departmental rideshare pilots to date have kept legacy systems available in parallel and while some continue to prefer other transportation options and payment systems, there is a steadily growing enthusiasm for departmental ridesharing. It is also important to note that locking in to one system or another tends to stifle innovation and result in lower quality of service.