Uber Making Inroads in Calgary

[BigNumbers]

It's about time we remove this draconian excuse for a Taxi Commission and get some free-market Uber-love!

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...148/story.html

Administrators came to council Monday with further restrictions, to require any luxury car trips to be booked 30 minutes in advance, which Henriques said would ensure no “direct competition” with taxis.

Nenshi voted against that change, and led council’s push to request a special report into Uber’s viability in Calgary.

“I want to make sure we don’t have a bureaucracy and a regulatory system that is restricting competition,” the mayor told reporters. “We want to make sure we protect people in the industry now, but competition is always a good thing.”

Glad to see those free-market haters with the taxi commission (no doubt funded by the taxi company owners who are so against this) went to Council to get even more blocks put in the way of Uber, and instead got their hands slapped and have now allowed Council to open the door to a great service like Uber entering the market. This bodes well for those of us who have used Uber in other cities and can't believe our taxi commission is so backwards as to be blocking a free-market entry.

[Canehdianman]

About time!

Now we will see if they actually do anything about it.

I've applied to be one of the 'citizens' on the taxi limousine commission for the past 4 years and haven't been successful yet.

The taxi service in this city is beyond atrocious.

[Ducay]

Can't get much worse than it already is, so this has to be a step in the right direction.


That said, the amount some of these cabbies are paying for the plate is beyond astronomical, so I can see why they have such a vested interest in keeping status-quo

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Can't get much worse than it already is, so this has to be a step in the right direction.


That said, the amount some of these cabbies are paying for the plate is beyond astronomical, so I can see why they have such a vested interest in keeping status-quo

Conoco paid top dollar for Burlington at the height of the gas price swing in the early '00s. Right after they bought gas prices crashed and hasn't (and likely won't in our lifetime) recovered to those levels. My point with this anecdote is that sometimes, in a free market, you buy something at a certain price/expectation level and then the market moves and you lose money.

We as a society should not be supporting cabbies and artificially creating an constraint on supply - Too many in the free market lose money when the market moves on them, the cabbies would just be added to that list. C'est la vie.

As an aside, I agree with your point and think it's valid - I just don't believe it justifies not making the change. Rip the bandaid off.

[Raekwon]

I would like to see an insurance point of view on this, I guarantee many will provide this service without adequate insurance on their vehicle.

[Ozy_Flame]

Uber should just offer their service in Calgary as free, and then the ride doesn't technically end until you make a charitable donation to Uber via your cell phone app at the end of your ride.

[Frequitude]

It's obvious why the taxi commission/lobby would want to restrict supply, but does anyone have any quotes from them speaking to their justification or responding to a solid line of questioning?

I would love to gain some insight into their public rationale. Specifically from the article in the OP, why is this a problem:

Although chief regulator Marc Halat threatened an end to the tight cab supply earlier this year, both the city and regulator prefer a system that ensures there’s no glut of cabs during weekdays and daytime, when demand is low.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Can't get much worse than it already is, so this has to be a step in the right direction.


That said, the amount some of these cabbies are paying for the plate is beyond astronomical, so I can see why they have such a vested interest in keeping status-quo

Just curious, does anyone know the reason it costs so much for a taxi plate?

Is it just that demand it so high (if so why wouldn't they issue more, if so many people are qualified and want to get into it, there must be a market for them).

Or a Union that started worrying more about its own infrastructure than the people it represents,

or a government cash grab

I've always found it odd that what should be a simple business and vehicle registration carries a cost that is obviously paying for something other than administration. And as end users we should all know that cost is really ours, because it will be passed on.

[Ducay]

They're going for high prices because of high demand (makes a ton of cash) and low supply (city issues them basically once in a blue moon), not because of the amount the city charged for them originally.

Used properly by the owner, it was basically a ticket to a six figure salary, hence they were going for hundreds of thousands at times.

[AltaGuy]

I spoke to a newish cabby a few years ago about buying his plate/licence. He did not buy his plate himself, but was 'financed' by a group in his community that controls the supply of plates and makes money controlling and financing the supply in a grey-market scenario. The cabby was going to end up paying these hucksters many times as much money as the plate was actually worth had he been able to buy it himself.

I guess there are several communities in Calgary where taxi plates are heavily guarded and heavily profitable.

[GP_Matt]

It is insane that a market exists to buy and sell/rent taxi licences like a commodity.

The license should be based on qualifications only. Do you meet the driving standard and does your vehicle meet the safety/insurance standards? Good, pay a small administration fee and be on your way. Throw in regular inspections and you are set.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Ducay

They're going for high prices because of high demand (makes a ton of cash) and low supply (city issues them basically once in a blue moon), not because of the amount the city charged for them originally.

Used properly by the owner, it was basically a ticket to a six figure salary, hence they were going for hundreds of thousands at times.

So the plates don't expire at all? guys just auction them off when they are done with them? This might be a major part of the problem.

As a laymen with no background knowledge of the industry, I don't have a fundamental problem with them putting limits on the number of licenses. Seems no different than zoning to me. Since you can't control where the business, at least you can how many business's there are.

But why shouldn't it be like a normal business registration, you have to show up and pay $200 every year and maintain an ongoing status as a license holder. If you loss your license for any reason including no longer needing it, it should not be some commodity you can sell off.