Changes

Governments have tended to be more slow to accept ridesharing services, with many municipal governments having initially prohibited ridesharing platforms due to their non-compliance with rules put into place to govern traditional taxi companies. With the gradual recognition of their distinctive enterprise, ridesharing platforms have over time gained widespread acceptance by government and have become an acceptable form of transportation for employees of the government of Canada for many years (since 2016?).   

Governments have tended to be more slow to accept ridesharing services, with many municipal governments having initially prohibited ridesharing platforms due to their non-compliance with rules put into place to govern traditional taxi companies. With the gradual recognition of their distinctive enterprise, ridesharing platforms have over time gained widespread acceptance by government and have become an acceptable form of transportation for employees of the government of Canada for many years (since 2016?).   

[[File:TC Uber.jpg|thumb|With departmental ridesharing enabled, public servants are able to expense travel immediately at the time of purchase.]]

[[File:TC Uber.jpg|thumb|With departmental ridesharing enabled, public servants are able to expense travel immediately at the time of purchase.]]

In 2018, the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) became the first department to launch a departmental ridesharing option for its employees, specifically with Uber. This allows CSPS employees to use the Uber ride-hailing app not only to hail vehicles but also as a payment method, directly charging travel to the department. CSPS employees are able to use Uber to hail a ride and the details of the trip and bill are sent directly to CSPS financial services, who would then tally and analyze the patterns from the previous month, and pay Uber directly for the sum total of all departmental usage in the form of an invoice. From the perspective of a user, they are able to toggle their payment method from "Personal" to "Departmental" depending on the purpose of the trip, and require not additional work to expense this form of travel.   

In 2018, the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) launched a pilot ridesharing option for its employees, specifically with Uber. This allows CSPS employees to use the Uber ride-hailing app not only to hail vehicles but also as a payment method, directly charging travel to the department. CSPS employees are able to use Uber to hail a ride and the details of the trip and bill are sent directly to CSPS financial services, who would then tally and analyze the patterns from the previous month, and pay Uber directly for the sum total of all departmental usage in the form of an invoice. From the perspective of a user, they are able to toggle their payment method from "Personal" to "Departmental" depending on the purpose of the trip, and require not additional work to expense this form of travel.   

As the first department to use this service, CSPS imposed restrictions on the permitted usage of Uber in order to minimize risk. This included the limitation of the app's usage to working hours (7h00-18h00), the limitation of the fare to under $50, and the staggered roll-out of the app functionality throughout the department. For fares falling outside of these perimeters, it was still possible to use rideshare services but the employee would need to pay for them and expense the cost in the same manner as for regular travel.

As part of the pilot approach, CSPS imposed restrictions on the permitted usage of Uber in order to minimize risk. This included the limitation of the app's usage to working hours (7h00-18h00), the limitation of the fare to under $50, and the staggered roll-out of the app functionality throughout the department. For fares falling outside of these perimeters, it was still possible to use rideshare services but the employee would need to pay for them and expense the cost in the same manner as for regular travel.

Gradually more departments followed in CSPS's lead by authorizing departmental ridesharing and also steadily lowered the restrictions associated with the apps functionality as it became clear that the risks of abuse are marginal, or at least, significantly less than with existing systems. At the time of writing in early 2020, half a dozen departments and agencies have some measure of departmental ridesharing with Transport Canada being the largest user, having several hundred users being permitted the full functionality of the app.  

Gradually more departments followed in CSPS's lead by authorizing departmental ridesharing and also steadily lowered the restrictions associated with the apps functionality as it became clear that the risks of abuse are marginal, or at least, significantly less than with existing systems. At the time of writing in early 2020, half a dozen departments and agencies have some measure of departmental ridesharing with Transport Canada being the largest user, having several hundred users being permitted the full functionality of the app.