B.C.’s Minister of Transportation says ride sharing is still on track to be ready this fall.

Claire Trevena was asked for an update on the service while speaking north of Kamloops.

“Absolutely. We’re anticipating that ride-hailing companies will be able to apply by this fall to the Passenger Transportation Board. We’re working extremely hard through the summer to ensure that everything is in place so they are ready to apply. And we anticipate people who want to use that base ride-hailing will be able to do so later this year.

“It is a new way of working for people in B.C., it’s a new way of transit for people in B.C. We’ll still have taxis, we’ll still have busses, we’ll still have personal vehicles. It’ll give people another option, and I know people are hungry for another option and it’ll give them another option.”

The Horgan government campaigned on bringing in ride sharing in late-2017, but has now twice delayed the service.

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar, who sits on an all-party ride sharing committee, has said it is unlikely companies like Uber or Lyft will be able to operate this fall as promised by the current government because of continued delays in the process.

He adds those companies will have a hard time operating in B.C. with the requirement for drivers to have a class four license instead of a standard class five. Earlier this spring, the all-party committee brought 11 recommendations to the Transportation Ministry on ride sharing, which Milobar says took months to create, and within an hour Trevena had ruled out one of those recommendations, which would’ve seen ride-sharing drivers need a class five drivers license instead of a class four.