"This could quite feasibly lead to the development of a local competitor, providing job opportunities for local developers and tax dollars for the region / country."

Highly unlikely.

Don't you think this has been tried in other regions?

There have been some good efforts to do this, but it requires savvy, luck, a great experience, and a critical mass and really a lot of $$$ to break into markets.

As evidence that it's not a 'local' thing I offer the fact that Uber and Lyft have no real similar competition almost anywhere. Wherever they have competition, it's in places like China from entities who have big $$ backing.

Also - it's utterly ridiculous that drivers need '35 hours of training'. Training for what exactly? How to drive? How to read a map? Even if 'regular cab drivers' did previously need that kind of training - I don't think they need it anymore.

Have Uber passengers experienced a problem with 'lost drivers'? Nonsense. I'll bet $100 that 'on average' most consumers would rate Uber as a better experience overall vis-a-vis regular cabs.

This is bad for Quebec - it will put many people out of work, and it will not lead to any new innovation.

FYI - I live in Montreal - and I never use Uber because there are a fleet of cabs parked outside my door. I talk to cabbies here often about the issue. My god man - it's like talking to someone from 1985. Cab companies themselves are notoriously fickle, cheap, unthoughtful. They have done ZERO to 'improve their game' over the last while. The cabbies have ZERO positive response to the issue, they just talk negatively about Uber, and have absolutely no sense that 'maybe they should do a few things better'.

It's amazing how backwater cab companies can be - it's partly due to the way they are organized (often they are syndicates of owner's nobody is really in charge), and of course, a smattering of companies across the board in any city. It's really an archaic industry.

Just 3 years ago - about 1/2 of 'Hochelaga Taxi' (my hood), did not even accept credit/debit!!! Now - they all have machines, but even the one's they bought are straight out of Myanmar. They're slow, crap. In 2017 you still can't get any 'Uber like features' out of the local cabs. I'd love to pay for my cab before, or 'on the way' or 'use my account' or something - but no.

It will mean fewer jobs, less choice, less competition - and business as usual for the local medallion holders.

It would seem rational that someone would just 'come along and make 'GoMyCab' but I'll bet any amount of money it won't happen. It's just too hard.

Now - you have the double problem: Uber has been 'run out of town' by politiking - who is now going to back a 'rival'?

Are VC's interested in investing in something risky - AND - that has to take on the cabal of local-yocal government officials + the Taxi Lobby who pushed a big multinational out?

No.

Also - there might not be enough scale in just one city to actually create enough surplus to create a great mobile experience etc..

This is one of the things I absolutely loathe about Montreal - it's the localist/anti-progress attitude here. It's 'politically populist' and they often don't make a lot of sense - AND - the city of Mtl is notoriously corrupt, though that's getting better.

The 'Uber pendulum' has swung too far. There are some serious things to consider about Uber, and the economics of it are interesting, but I don't think that because they've had bad publicity, that city officials should be playing a populist game.

I think there are better answers to 'the Uber problem'.