Metronauts
Exploring a sustainable urban future
Taxicab Confessional
Posted on September 16, 2008 at 12:47 pm by Sameer Vasta
Taxis. You see them everywhere and they’re an inescapable part of the local transportation system.
You hop in a cab when it’s raining and you’re in a rush to get to your next meeting a few miles away. You (hopefully) call a taxi after a night out partying and you’re in no condition to drive.
You may not think of them every day, but taxis are essential to any region’s transportation network.
But all is not well right now in taxi-land.
I recently had the chance to speak to Roger, a Toronto independent taxicab owner, about a legal battle between the City of Toronto and the city’s airport taxi operators, and the role of the Toronto Taxi Industry Association in that battle.
While Toronto’s taxi battle is taking place in the courts, far away from the sight of most people in the city that use cabs every day, the ramifications of the eventual ruling will have an impact on all of us.
I came into the conversation with Roger completely blind; I had no clue about the tension in taxi-land before our chat, so he was kind enough to provide some background context.
As it stands right now, only specially-licensed airport taxis can pick up passengers from the airport. Independent cab drivers can drop off passengers at the airport, but have to return with their vehicles empty as they do not have the appropriate jurisdiction to pick up any fares from Pearson. Taxi license-holders in the GTA are only allowed to pick up passengers in certain areas as indicated on their license.
On the other hand, airport taxis can not only pick up fares from Pearson airport, but they also have the right to pick up a fare from anywhere else in the city, at any time.
There’s a few things that rub me the wrong way about this whole situation.
First, the entire system is backwards and hurts the environment. Requiring taxicab drivers to return without passengers from the airport in counter-intuitive to economic and environmental efficiency. Second, this kind of system creates a two tiers of taxi license holders, effectively hindering the potential for success for small, independent taxicab owner-operators because of unnecessary restrictions.
Granted, I got all this information from Roger, a somewhat biased source, but it looks like this issue has been raised several times before, and any changes to the current rules are nowhere in sight.
The Toronto Taxicab Industry Association, a “coalition of Toronto Taxi Associations dedicated to the promotion of a healthy taxi industry” in the city, has taken matters into their own hands by applying an injunction to act as an intervenor in a legal battle between the City and the airport cabs. (In fact, Roger advised me that the application is to be submitted tomorrow, September 17, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for updates and let you know what comes of it.)
According to Roger (and now that I check, also according to the TTIA), airport limos and cabs are “stealing” about $70 million worth of business that could be going to Toronto taxi operators.
With that kind of money involved, it’s no surprise that this legal battle has been going on for a long time. The first set of legal proceedings last year ruled in favor of the airport operators, and the TTIA is hoping that the second round goes a bit better with their intervention.
Until I spoke to Roger, I had no clue that this tension was brewing in the taxicab industry in Toronto. And it didn’t really sink in until Roger reminded me:
“If this situation gets sorted soon, the entire city will benefit. More business means more opportunity for independent cab drivers, means a better economy, and means better fares and a better experience for the people that actually ride in my cab. Also, we won’t be wasting all that gas going to the airport and coming back empty. That’s got to be bad for the city. It’s already smoggy enough as it is.”
Roger makes a good point. On a drunken night out, it’s easy to forget just how important Toronto taxi drivers are to our transportation system. It might be time to remember.
(I’m hoping to get a chance to talk to an airport taxi operator later next week, so I’ll put up their side of the story as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you know anything about the taxi industry in Toronto, please share. I’m still new to all of this, and appreciate any insight you may have.)
Photo by 24by36.
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If I had my way all taxis would be booted off King in the business district and onto Adelaide and Wellington as they can’t seem to stay in their zone so their overspill impedes free flow of traffic and the streetcars on that street.
Unfortunately I don’t carry a digital camera to capture the frequent examples of cabs idling and backed up as far as Bay in the no stopping zone. TPS drive right by…
[...] struggle happening between taxicab operators in Toronto. I’ve shared some of my conversation over on the Metronauts blog: “If this situation gets sorted soon, the entire city will benefit. More business means more [...]
Maybe Metrolinx should include taxis in its Regional Transportation Plan.
That’s a fantastic idea W.K. Creating better regional jurisdiction for taxi operation and licensing might lead to better standards across the region and avoid creating sub-classes of taxi operators based on their access to licenses. This would help foster local, independent operators if implemented correctly.
And Mark, I’ve never been a witness to that kind of taxi piling (I generally avoid the financial district if I can) so I can’t comment, but do you think moving the taxi routes to Adelaide and Wellington will help? If TPS are not enforcing it right now, will they enforce the King Street ban?
Airport taxis are allowed to pick up fares downtown only if they are travelling to Pearson.
Toronto taxis can in fact pick up fares at the airport, but it must be pre-arranged and they pay a fee.
This has been an ongoing debate/situation for decades and there are too many sides to this story to even count…
Keith, realistically, do many people actually pre-arrange taxis when traveling to a foreign city? It might be something people do that I’m not aware of, but from what I know it’s probably not a very common practice.
Also, do you know who I can talk to in order to get another side to the story? I’d love to get more perspective.
My father owned a number of Brampton Cab plates.
In his opinion, cabs should be allowed to pick up at the Airport. But it has to be regulated. There should be a specific “cab zone”, where Cabbies, if they choose to, wait in line to pick up customers.
THere shouldn’t be a monopoly at the airport.
As someone who flies a lot, I’ve seen those cab zones at airports in Lisbon and Vienna. They seem to work quite effectively.
Justin, is your father involved in this whole legal battle as well? Or is he no longer involved with the taxi industry? I’d love to hear more from him.
The market for taxis is, demonstrably, GTA-wide. It should be regulated on a GTA-wide basis. Metrolinx is the logical agency to do it.
Is there a federal jurisdiction issue that complicates licensing at the aeroport vs elsewhere? Regardless, Metrolinx could be given regional responsibility over provincially-controlled taxis (i.e. everything else) and then, as it operated, work to bring the GTAA onboard both through “open interface” documents and, in parallel, by making the argument for GTAA to voluntarily deputize Metrolinx in this file.
To Sameer:
No. He retired, and sold his plates.
I do not think Brampton cabbies are involved in this, but I could be wrong.
Sameer, you’re right – a restriction on cab stands (as opposed to picking up from a hail) would have to be accompanied by enforcement. Unfortunately the city does have a habit of proposing programmes but not following through – look at the slow rollout of red light cameras reported today.
Keep in mind, that most cab plates are privately owned. If Metrolinx were going to take it over, they will have to buy those plates back.
Its nice to support the taxi industry, but would be better for travelers if there was a train from the airport to union station. Why is Toronto so behind other major international cities. Good for the taxi industry though….
Justin, if independent owners were allowed to keep their plates, but licensing was turned over to a regional authority, that would solve the whole buy-back issue, right? They could then ensure that all cabs have cross-regional jurisdiction — which, if I’m not mistaken, is one of the stumbling blocks of today’s City-based licensing system.
Peter, you’re completely right about finding alternate routes to the core from the airport, whether that’s a train or LRT or even a low-cost direct shuttle service. For now, however, taxis are what we’ve got, sadly.
That would be nice actually. It is pretty wasteful, if a Cab has a fare to Toronto, and then drive back to his municipality empty. If he can find a fare in Toronto he should be allowed to pick up.
After spending 20 years in Hospitality and a few years as a cab driver I went on the road researching the Taxicab industry. Evidently, airports are tired of drivers hanging out at airports squabbling about everything that’s wrong with their situation AND taking up space through the creation of holding lots. Can’t say that I don’t sympathize with them.
Look, I have come to the conclusion that all problems with the industry are really the result of one inescapable truth. Drivers have a pocket full of cash and no one wants the responsibility of liability for the danger from criminals who attack drivers for the cash.
Insurance is difficult to find, cab companies self-insure and hold drivers hostage with lease rates. These companies deny reliable service because they are exposed if they employ forced dispatch.
So…I found some partners and we are starting an alternative SYSTEM that works without cash. Our set-up protects the dispatching function and allows forced dispatch. Drivers win because we offer reduced insurance based on the reduction in risk from criminals AND the reduction in overall mileage from the more efficient dispatching.
I don’t know if Canadian business laws allow for the structure we are about to create here (2 weeks) but our system SOLVES ALL PROBLEMS. with regards to the airport arrogance of restricting cab drivers….what will they do when arriving customers demand service from drivers who honor our pre-paid Cab-Cards?