Uber offers boat taxi service on Muskoka lakes, but is it safe?

Cottage-goers celebrating in Ontario’s Muskoka region this long weekend will have an alternative to boating home after a night of fireworks and revelry.

The ride-share company Uber announced on Thursday that it will offer taxi service on two Ontario lakes, though there are questions about whether the contentious program will cause more problems than it solves.

Uber is an international service that allows users to request and pay for taxi service through a program on their smart phones. The company has expanded into dozens of cities around the world since it launched in 2009, including the Canadian locations of Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. Until now, the company has focused on offering service in cars, though they once dabbled in helicopter service.

Now, however, Uber says it will offer service on Ontario lakes during busy weekends. For now, the program will only run during summer long weekends, starting with the upcoming May Long holiday.

The company expects to add more Ontario lakes in the future, but for now will run on Lake Joseph and Lake Rosseau, two bodies of water in the heart of Ontario's Muskoka region.

On the outside, it seems like a good idea. Water fatalities have been an issue lately, with four people either dead or missing in two recent Canadian canoeing incidents.

The Ontario Provincial Police run annual awareness campaigns calling for safety on Ontario lakes and rivers, especially during long weekends when celebration levels tend to run highest.

In 2013, there were 23 fatalities on OPP-monitored waterways, according to a Muskoka news agency.

In theory, the idea of a water taxi cruising Ontario lakes is a bonny idea, but the matter may be more troublesome in practice. Uber's unique system has caused recent problems with its land services.

The service relies on public applicants to provide taxi service. In short, anyone with a car can apply to be added to their list of drivers. If they pass a background check, they can be adder to the queue and sent for pickups. But the effectiveness of the company's screening process has been questioned in the wake of a series of alleged attacks and accidents involving Uber drivers.

Earlier this year, a six-year-old girl was allegedly struck and killed by an off-duty Uber driver.

Last year, an Uber passenger in the District of Columbia accused a driver of rape, though the investigation was dropped. A San Francisco man claimed he was attacked and insulted by his driver. A Pando Daily investigation later determined the driver in this case had a criminal record when he passed the company's screening process.

There was also this Daily Beast feature, in which a writer has shocked to find Uber drivers somehow able to access a great deal of personal information about her, leading to a couple of awkward and invasive exchanges.

The company says drivers are independent contractors who pass a screening process to verify they are insured and legally qualified to drive. The Uber Muskoka service similarly claims that drivers went through rigorous background check processes. Drivers will also be required to maintain safe speeds and ask all passengers to wear proper safety jackets.

A company statement says it “has ensured that all drivers have been vetted and tested to have strong knowledge of the lakes during both day and night."

Potential issues aside, Uber could have a positive impact on long weekend boating in the Muskoka region.

According to the company the rate of drunk driving arrests decrease in cities where the service is offered. The company recently claimed that DUI's decreased by more than 10 per cent when they entered the Seattle market.

The Ontario Provincial Police has long fought to make intoxicated boating is an issue the public pays attention to. Perhaps giving those celebratory cottage-goers an option will help.

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