Why do planners do what they do? and what are the implications? Guidance from on-demand ride-hailing policy in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada

On-demand ride-hailing is among the first in a new wave of technology-enabled transportation services to shape cities around the world. Due to ensuing disruption of established transportation systems, policymakers and planners have introduced various regulatory responses. This paper presents findings from expert interviews to understand the underlying processes associated with policymaking and planning for on-demand ride-hailing in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Interviews are conducted with planning practitioners and policymakers from local, regional, provincial, and private sector entities involved in regulating and planning related to on-demand ride hailing. Interviews are assessed using coding and thematic analysis and results suggest that both structural and experiential factors influence policymaking and planning in this area. Four themes emerge from interviews, highlighting that policymaking responses and processes stemmed from planners’ processes of perception, prioritization, role interpretation, and anticipation of broader impacts. Results point to a significant pattern of regulating on-demand ride-hailing using already available policy tools – implying that while on-demand ride-hailing may represent dramatic changes, policy responses represent only incremental shifts. Should other emerging transportation technologies follow a similar trajectory, they may also become integrated into existing structures as policymakers respond to future challenges.