Improving taxi service: A statement from Mayor Nenshi
It’s no secret in Calgary: taxi service in our city must get better. While we generally have a safe and reliable system, we've heard from Calgarians time and time again that our taxi system needs improvement. Taxis need to be available when and where we need them. But our regulatory regime has not been able to make this happen as well as it should.
Today, your City Council took a significant step toward improving taxi service in Calgary. Here are a few highlights:
- First, Council authorized the issue of 55 new accessible taxi plate licenses to eligible drivers. These include a number of performance conditions, including that the holder of the plate personally drives a minimum of 981 hours per year and that these plates be in service between 10pm and 4am on Friday and Saturday nights.
- Second, Council approved performance benchmarks to reinforce reasonable levels of taxi service. In the past, Council approved a certain number of cab licenses issued based on a ratio to Calgary’s population, but did not really enforce when and how these cabs would be in service. This hasn't worked as well as it should to create consistent and reasonable service. A benchmark for acceptable service means The City will be able to ensure that cabs are in use when customers need them.
- Third, The City will rely much more on data for good regulation. We will require that industry share vehicle GPS and other data from existing taxi meters so that The City can determine if the plates are in use when they are supposed to be in use. This data will also be a great resource to Council for making good future decisions about the taxi industry including whether more taxis are actually required on city streets.
- Fourth, The City will hire two additional taxi inspectors and a data analyst to monitor compliance. These new positions will be covered by a modest increase to license fees.
- And, fifth, Council approved the introduction of stiff penalties for non-compliance with licensing conditions such as when a plate must be in operation to serve customers.
It’s reasonable for Calgarians to expect a high-quality and reliable taxi service as a transportation option in Calgary. Today, we’ve taken a major step to ensure that.
- Mayor Naheed Nenshi
6 comments:
Sounds like a good plan to make the system work better. But it concerns me somewhat that the city is trying to use regulation as a way to improve service when one would expect that the private sector companies would do what it takes to make money, and therefore would operate when users demand the service.
Because quantity of licences is strictly regulated the private sector has no motivation to take action. They make money regardless.
Also what can be done about the large number of cabs that stay parked in front of the ritzy hotels waiting for the "big fish" tipper and refuse to take other calls.
While I agree that our taxi service needs improvement, and am pleased to hear of council's actions, I feel that extending Calgary Transit service hours would prove a greater benefit to Calgarians. Due to the size of the city, a cab ride can be quite expensive to the avg person. Many Calgarians would support later transit service hours on weekends, especially on holidays such as New Years where the last train runs before bars even close. Would council be able to give this matter some attention?
I agree it's not a problem with the cabs but a problem with transit. There have been a number of occasions where the midnight, one am an two am trains haven't shown up thereby forcing me to find a cab. That for me is frustrating as I live on the edge of Calgary.
Most people nead cab only 2 days a week and mostly on 2 hours of that day which is friday and saturday night after 1 am. What should the drivers do the rest of the week. And i do not think that these 55 additional cabs can solve the problem. I think council has to put a law that prohibits cabs from taking people to McDonald's drive through that kill at least 30 min on the weekend when the driver can pick up some one and on on. Droping people as fast as possible might be a better solution. During this 30 min drive through driver can drop off another person. Imagine that on that busy nights 500 cabs waiting for 30 how many hours would that be and how many people has to stay on the street on some cold nights.
This last post is SOOO true! I do admit to ping to McDonald's on drunk nights out. But quick service is also needed for the greater good of everyone
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