Media Contacts

Media Relations

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
250 356-8241

Backgrounders

Biography of Dan Hara

Dan Hara has been providing consultation for vehicle-for-hire regulators through Hara Associates since 1987. Past clients include the cities of Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Edmonton; Sudbury; Halifax; Calgary; Ottawa; Waterloo; Hamilton; Mississauga, and, outside of the continent, the State of Victoria (Australia) and Saudi Arabia (via Ernst & Young).

Hara has studied other North American jurisdictions and conducted public consultations with stakeholders. His report recommendations cover the full spectrum of vehicle-for-hire regulation, including adequacy of supply, method and number of taxi licences to be issued, fare and meter rates, safety standards and training, enforcement and administration, insurance, cost indexes, information management and new technologies, driver incomes, controls on lease payments for taxi licences and regulator revenue and fee collection. As a result, Hara is intimately familiar with the industry, its players, and the variations in industry practice across jurisdictions.

In B.C., Hara has been involved in taxi regulation for a number of years, particularly in the Greater Vancouver area. He has provided expert testimony before the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) and provincial courts on the issues of suburban taxis and access to the downtown market; the issue of part-time taxi licences in Vancouver; performance standards and adequacy of supply of accessible taxis in the Vancouver area; and the licensing of additional taxis in Richmond.

Hara provided support to the multi-stakeholder, multi-municipality, stakeholder engagement process of Vancouver's 2015 Vehicle-for-Hire dialogue. In addition, studies for other Canadian jurisdictions have required frequently documenting the regulatory approach in B.C. and Vancouver. Hara is familiar with both current regulatory frameworks and enforcement practices, and their development in British Columbia over time.