Toronto Asks Court to Shut Down Uber

Toronto is asking a court to order the mobile car-booking service Uber Technologies Inc. to shut down in the city. Uber has been operating in North America's fourth-largest metropolis since 2012 without a proper license, city officials said today in a statement on the Toronto website. The notice cited concerns about Uber’s operations, including a lack of driver training and vehicle inspections, inadequate insurance and increased traffic from the additional cars on the road. Uber, which allows users to summon and pay for rides with their mobile phones, has been bogged down by legal battles and protests around the world as it disrupts established taxi and limousine industries. The startup has expanded to more than 220 cities since it was founded in 2009. Xavier Van Chau, a spokesman for Uber, said in an email that the company wants to sit down with city officials to “find a common-sense approach to regulations that promote public safety.”