Carpooling in Canada? You're Breaking The Law!

1. Rocky Rook
   November 13th, 2008 at 7:10 am

   Government efficiency at its best.

2. Christophe
   November 13th, 2008 at 7:11 am

   Just move the website abroad? Such as : if Neatorama was in Somalia or Equatorial Guinea we could see more of those neat copyrighted stuff ;p

3. Jacki
   November 13th, 2008 at 7:12 am

   As a student, I use the bus on a daily basis to and from school. I think I've seen these carpool ads like this on busses here in Vancouver, Canada. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow morning...(in 3 hours haha).

   But I am extremely dissatisfied with the fact that bus companies in cities have monopoly over all public transportation. It means that the lack of competition gives public commuters (consumers) no choice but to pay to a certain bus company whether they like it or not. If there was a competitive market of some sort, then we would likely see more improvements in the current public system since they would have to fight for their consumers rather than have us walk right into their hands.

4. Jacki
   November 13th, 2008 at 7:16 am

   http://www.translink.bc.ca/Commuting_Options/ridesharing/

   Something similar but I guess the bus company has alot more control over the carpooling (and profits).

5. ted
   November 13th, 2008 at 7:35 am

   That story is probably missing a lot of details. Never heard of any laws against car pooling.

6. Robolasse
   November 13th, 2008 at 8:36 am

   Soviet Canada

7. Colin
   November 13th, 2008 at 8:37 am

   Nope ted, there really is a law against arranging carpooling in Ontario. If my buddy needs a ride to Toronto, and my neighbour is driving to Toronto tomorrow and will take my friend for $20 to cover gas, if I give my buddy the phone number of my neighbour then I'm breaking the law.

   The same thing happened with AlloStop.

8. sparge
   November 13th, 2008 at 9:44 am

   Somehow, I think the disadvantages of having multiple bus companies in the same city (having to deal with multiple schedules, and varying coverages, etc.) would outweigh the cost savings of a single, contiguous system.

9. Algonkin
   November 13th, 2008 at 10:05 am

   I live in Ontario and it's the first time I hear of this...Hoax

10. Jimbo
    November 13th, 2008 at 10:23 am

    The only reason we don't take Canada by force is because it is worthless.

11. MENLOHEAVYWEIGHT
    November 13th, 2008 at 10:44 am

    What idiots eh?

12. red
    November 13th, 2008 at 11:20 am

    Ted, Algonkin - not a hoax, and no, you aren't missing any part of the story. That crap actually happened. I remember it quite vividly because it was so ridiculous.

13. silentwatcher24
    November 13th, 2008 at 11:21 am

    That's so stupid. Why the hell do they think they control who we drive with. That's so lame

14. Jacki
    November 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am

    @sparge: point taken. : )

    It would make me oh so happy though.

15. Ando
    November 13th, 2008 at 11:33 am

    Not a hoax. Bus service in Canada is pretty much a Greyhound monopoly due these BS laws--and no it's not always more efficient to have only one company. Without competition, prices are always high and seat sales are unheard of. Really pissed me off in the 90's when they shut down the ride share service Allostop, which I used a lot between Ottawa/Montreal/Toronto. Fact: Canada is over-regulated in some sectors and it definitely hurts the public, especially here, since distance buses are usually relied on by lower income folks, students etc. You won't find cheap tickets. Ex: Ottawa-Montreal (a 2 hour ride) is $36.30 one way, no discount return and Ottawa-Toronto (5 hours) is $76.85 one way. Riiiip off! And don't even ask about train ticket$$$. Try Craigslist... but even there people will try to gyp you because they know there are no other options.

16. Leif
    November 13th, 2008 at 11:50 am

    1. Jimbo, be nice now. Troll be gone, listen to the space man.
    2. I live in Ontario and it may be a law (albeit one that I've never heard of) but it's not as if people don't carpool in spite of it. It's kind of like one of those "no spitting" or "No riding hoses downtown after 4pm" laws.

17. Gail Pink
    November 13th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    I guess you just have to carpool in secret!

18. Persephone
    November 13th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    How are they going to know if you carpool unofficially? If you give the number of your buddy to your friend, who agree to ride together, they stop for gas and the passenger pays for gas instead of the driver, who would know?

    This is a law that's begging to be rewritten. To an extent, I can understand the bus companies not wanting competition from an outside company, but to completely outlaw casual carpooling is ridiculous.

19. 24Slashing
    November 13th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    Ok...well you're close. Carpooling is 100% legal. What isn't is accepting a fee for the service, the same as any city in the US or Canada. You are not allowed to organize a group of people who will each pay you $5 a day to take them to work. That would clash with cabs and busses. If you want to do it for the fun of it, you're perfectly allowed. The only money that can change hands is for gas.
    Your description of it makes it seem somewhat unique up here, almost FOX news kind of reporting.....

20. stormie24
    November 13th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    This is really bizarre considering the 401 Hwy now has a carpool lane as well as the highway in Ottawa so you'd think they'd encourage it.

21. Emmers
    November 13th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    Um, what? I've lived in Ontario my whole life and have never heard of this...?

22. DOJ
    November 13th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

    Carpool lanes exist to keep kids off the streets.
    Parents need to drive places, but traffic is bad. Kids left alone with nothing to do can lead to mischief. So special lanes were built to get parents to drag their children around, keeping them out of trouble.

23. JB
    November 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    I live in Ontario as well as some other posters here. The story as it's written/reported here, makes the carpooling issue seem so ridiculous, sensationalizes it, and is taken out of context. Please check your facts.

24. ted
    November 13th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

    I still stand by my original statement:

    "That story is probably missing a lot of details. Never heard of any laws against car pooling."

    And yes, I think any story that would report otherwise is sensationalistic and wildly inaccurate.

25. Ali S.
    November 14th, 2008 at 1:32 am

    Yeah the Public Transport folks here in Ontario seem to think monopolizing over the system means they can get away with anything.

26. Algonkin
    November 14th, 2008 at 7:33 am

    Thanks Ando for the update. Humm... I'll have to research this. It's obvious that you know what you're talking about because I live in Ottawa, and it's true what you say about prices from Ottawa to Mtl. What a rip off.

27. Gilda
    November 16th, 2008 at 11:36 am

    Oh, too bad you didn't check this out before publishing. Sort of makes me wonder about more of the Neatorama posts. Have a look here for the real explanation:
    http://moneygrubbinglawyer.com/2008/11/13/get-it-right-carpooling-is-s till-legal-pickuppalcom-is-not/

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