Jim Watson promises to tackle taxi industry issues in year-end interview
Mayor Jim Watson sat down with CBC Ottawa's Adrian Harewood
Expect Ottawa City Council to tackle taxi industry regulations and how Uber fits into that, Mayor Jim Watson told CBC Ottawa's Adrian Harewood in a year-end interview.
"We're trying to grapple with this changing technology that has just burst onto the scene in the last year or so with an industry that has, for many year, been a complete monopoly, over-regulated, red tape galore," Watson said.
Uber launched in Ottawa in October 2014.
Watson said city staff will also start a study with Via Rail about whether to separate bus lanes and rail lines near Barrhaven. It comes after the Transportation Safety Board released its final report earlier this month into the fatal bus-train crash in September 2013.
Other topics of discussion included the transit fare increases expected next July, the city's relationship with a new federal government and event planning for Canada's 150th birthday.
Watch the full sit-down interview in the video above.