Desi Today Magazine
Kater ride-hail to launch throughout BC by the end of the year
KATER Technologies Inc., a Vancouver based technology company, announced on Tuesday that it will apply to take part in traditional ride-hailing in British Columbia following the provincial government’s announcement earlier this month.
Kater will continue to provide its current service using Kater-owned vehicles and licensed cars (Kater cars), and will add traditional ride-hailing (Kater ride-hailing) to the platform as the Provincial regulations come into effect in the Fall of 2019. Kater anticipates that its ride-hail service will launch as a service throughout BC’s main cities by the end of the year.
The addition of traditional ride-hailing to the Kater platform marks the beginning of Kater’s move towards full Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS); a fully integrated transportation system where different modes of transportation are connected through one digital platform to help move people seamlessly.
Scott Larson, CEO at Kater noted: “Kater in its current form is the foundation for a larger MaaS platform. When fully built out, the Kater intermodal platform will allow users to book a trip that incorporates numerous modes of transport; whether it be Kater vehicles, traditional ride-hailing, buses, ferries, the Skytrain, and car-sharing or bike-sharing services. We are already on a path towards this solution with the Kater app and the addition of traditional ride-hailing in September.”
Larson added: “Kater’s plan has always been to move to a traditional ride-hailing model in conjunction with our hybrid solution, once provincial regulations allow for it.
“One app, one ‘boarding pass’ and payment that takes you from the very first to the very last mile; this is what I believe is the future of transportation in Vancouver and in other forward-looking metropolitan cities. We’re excited to put our hat in the ring for ride-hailing as our first step towards this vision.”
Kater ride-hail drivers will use their own vehicles and will be required, as part of the regulations, to hold a Class 4 license. Kater will take safety a step further by requiring its drivers to attend a training course in person, in addition to the required criminal record checks. Kater is currently accepting applications for ride-hailing drivers and encourages interested parties to go to www.kater.com to sign-up and start the application process.
Kater says it looks forward to unveiling its full suite of incentives, all designed to offer its drivers a living wage, advanced safety features, and other industry-leading initiatives. More details will be announced on Kater.com in the coming weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is Kater?
Kater Technologies Inc. is a Vancouver-based ride-hailing company. Kater is launching a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) integrated transportation network designed to combine different forms of transportation into a single service, making ride-hailing, ferries, scooters, buses, and perhaps even planes all cohesive, working together in a single app. The platform allows users to book a trip filtered by cost, duration, arrival or departure time, and then be issued a boarding pass that handles all payments to the various transportation providers. The net result is cost savings, time savings, and ease of use.
By the fall of 2019, the Kater platform will include Kater cars, Kater ride-hail, and public transportation such as buses and skytrains. Integration with additional options including car-share and ferries will be added in the future.
What is Maas?
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a fully integrated transportation system where different modes of transportation are connected through one digital platform to help move people seamlessly. The addition of traditional ride-hailing to the Kater platform marks the beginning of Kater’s move into a MaaS offering. Kater in its current form is the foundation for a larger MaaS platform and eventually, the Kater platform will allow users to book a trip that incorporates numerous modes of transport; whether it be Kater vehicles, traditional ride-hailing, buses, ferries, the Skytrain and car-sharing or bike-sharing services.
One app, one ‘boarding pass’ and payment that takes you from the very first to the very last mile.
Will Kater Cars continue to operate in their current form?
Kater-owned and licensed cars will continue to operate, in addition to Kater ride-hail vehicles.
How may Kater Ride-Hailing cars do you expect to have on the road?
We look forward to more detail from the PTB about numbers of licenses and will be applying accordingly on September 3.
How much will Kater cars / Kater ride-hailing cost?
Kater’s pricing will be in accordance with the regulations once they are laid out by the PTB in coming weeks.
Where will Kater operate?
With the addition of ride-hailing and other transit options to our app, we plan to serve the whole of British Columbia by the end of the year.
When will you launch Kater ride-hail?
Kater ride-hail’s launch date will depend on Provincial regulations and licenses. We hope to be in operation in late September, early October.
Will drivers be fairly paid?
Kater’s mandate has always been to offer its drivers a living wage and the company will continue to do this. Our exact compensation model will depend on the pricing structures put in place by the PTB.
