Uber to Resume in Calgary December 6 2016

[GGG]

http://votersfortaxis.ca

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...-later-on.html

So for those who want the city to follow recommendations of experts you can go through the articles from May 2014 to now.

Essentially the livery manger wants to add 310 plates .... Gets rejected.
Comes back in August wanting to add 383 plates. This would get us back to same cab density as the late eighties.
Gets phased in over 3 years while they "study" the issue further.

So in the last year with uber pressuring them they still failed to implement the recommendations to try to fix the taxi problem instead delaying it on behalf of the industry.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by GGG

http://votersfortaxis.ca

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...-later-on.html

So for those who want the city to follow recommendations of experts you can go through the articles from May 2014 to now.

Essentially the livery manger wants to add 310 plates .... Gets rejected.
Comes back in August wanting to add 383 plates. This would get us back to same cab density as the late eighties.
Gets phased in over 3 years while they "study" the issue further.

So in the last year with uber pressuring them they still failed to implement the recommendations to try to fix the taxi problem instead delaying it on behalf of the industry.

But citing uncertainty surrounding the impacts of such a large release – 383 more plates would represent a 25-per-cent increase over the 1,526 taxi plates currently out there – councillors agreed on a plan to spread the release out over time, based on real-world data gathered on taxi service between now and early 2015.

Impacts? More cabs on the road? Why is the city regulating this? What other industry has a limit on how many we can have in one city?

Oh sorry Sport Chek, too many sports stores in the city.

[Drummer]

MADD Canada kicked off their don't drink and drive campaign today... It makes me wonder what they think of Uber

[Jason14h]

Yesterday I took a taxi to blockbuster to rent a movie and then headed over to the Kodak store to pick up my film.

It was a glorious afternoon

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

That may work for some but not necessarily for others.

I don't have any long-term disability benefits at my employment. I would have to resort to Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) and let the province (and your taxes) take care of me.

And... having met Calgary handibus passengers (now know as Calgary Transit access (tm)) that were hurt by un-identified drivers in hit and runs, I really wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemy.

Since I work in the auto accident industry , here is a simple tip for all you guys - carry at least $2M (and I would urge $3-5M) of liability insurance. Why? SEF44 rider on your auto policy allows you to claim the amount in excess of the at-fault's insurance coverage from your own insurance IFF your policy limit > the at-fault's policy limit. In 99% of auto accidents everybody involved has the same $1M of coverage, so this does not arise. But for extra $30-60 a year it is well worth it in case your buddy does wrap the vehicle you are riding in around a pole and paralyzes you. Because even his $1M in coverage will not come anywhere close to paying the $3.5M or whatever your claim is worth and he likely does not have a $3M house you can tap. But if you have a $3M liability policy, you can tap into an extra $2M of coverage that you desperately need. This also serves as a sort of disability insurance, as, odds are, you are most likely to be disabled in an auto accident if you are a white-collar professional. Obviously, if you are in a high-risk job, different issues. Do this - it's very useful and very inexpensive.

To the topic at hand. In the end - it's a simple market issue: there are a certain number of people that need a ride and a certain number of people that would like to make money by driving others. The question is how to most efficiently connect the two. The taxi monopoly, at least as practiced in Calgary, is clearly not the way - too many people looking for a ride are either not served at all or not served well in order for the license holders to maintain the value of their licenses on the secondary market. Is the City corrupt or simply incompetent. I don't know. Outright large scale corruption is unlikely, but who knows...
All that we really need is a way to connect the driver to the passenger and some sort of assurance that the driver is not an ear collector. Uber seems to have done a fine job of creating such a model. Are there problems with it? Sure. But it is still better than the existing model. Given the advances in communications technology, the taxi business is obsolete unless it adapts...

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

The city makes millions off of driver, plate, and broker fees each year.

That's ultimately what this is about.

I'd say it's about the city being worried about lawsuits from all those cabbies and brokers who bought plates for $150,000 (1,500 x $150,000 = over $200 million value of existing plates). It's like Canada's dairy supply management system* - once you establish a closed system, you're on the hook for compensating the protected stakehohlders if you devalue their businesses by opening the market. Which is one of the reasons protected and closed markets are a bad idea.

* Canada's dairy producers will get $4.3-billion in federal compensation if the TPP free trade deal goes through.

[HotHotHeat]

Anyone notice how Nenshi is quick to pick out flaws in the Uber model but doesn't respond to citizens on Twitter asking why there is a lack of taxis?

Still shocked at how much he is protecting that industry.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'd say it's about the city being worried about lawsuits from all those cabbies and brokers who bought plates for $150,000 (1,500 x $150,000 = over $200 million value of existing plates). It's like Canada's dairy supply management system* - once you establish a closed system, you're on the hook for compensating the protected stakehohlders if you devalue their businesses by opening the market. Which is one of the reasons protected and closed markets are a bad idea.

* Canada's dairy producers will get $4.3-billion in federal compensation if the TPP free trade deal goes through.

once again, weren't those plates sold at that price on the black market? The city never sold them for that price. So a big boo hoo is all these cabbies should get, you bought on the black market and lost.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Swarly

once again, weren't those plates sold at that price on the black market? The city never sold them for that price. So a big boo hoo is all these cabbies should get, you bought on the black market and lost.

I'm not saying the city should compensate the plate holders. But it's the fear of a lawsuit that might compel them to the pay compensation that has made council drag its heels over this issue for years.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'm not saying the city should compensate the plate holders. But it's the fear of a lawsuit that might compel them to the pay compensation that has made council drag its heels over this issue for years.

They bought a product illegally, if any judge or lawyer actually entertains the idea of suing for compensation I would be shocked. I am trying and cannot find any parallels to any other sector of business or even illegal activity, that is how f'ed up the taxi and city relationship is.

closest I can think of would be someone suing the federal government for all the money they put into making a successful hydroponic grow-op, then the government legalises it making their investment worthless. That is the same level of ludacris as the cabbies suing for inflated black market plates.

[llwhiteoutll]

I don't see the city needing to compensate at all. The city never guaranteed the value of a plate and if someone bought them as an investment, its their risk. The lower value of a plate doesn't impact the ability of a cab driver to do their job either.

All the cab companies saying how good they are should be welcoming the competition to prove why they charge what they do and how much better their service is than Uber.

[TheAlpineOracle]

If Nenshi spent as much time dealing with the cab issue head on over the past few years as he is spending on arguing with people on twitter telling him Uber is an essential service due to the plight, Uber may not have had a market in Calgary to enter at all.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Yesterday I took a taxi to blockbuster to rent a movie and then headed over to the Kodak store to pick up my film.

It was a glorious afternoon

Waaazzzzzup

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Yesterday I took a taxi to blockbuster to rent a movie and then headed over to the Kodak store to pick up my film.

It was a glorious afternoon

Did you do it all while listening to your Sony Walkman?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Torture

Did you do it all while listening to your Sony Walkman?

He also keeps his wallet in his fanny-pack.

[Ducay]

Toss me a $2 bill from your velcro wallet and I'll grab a bottle of Orbitz or Crystal Pepsi

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Yesterday I took a taxi to blockbuster to rent a movie and then headed over to the Kodak store to pick up my film.

It was a glorious afternoon

I can't believe you didn't have time to go to Radio Shack, to umm, you know, buy whatever they sell.

[Wormius]

I understand Calgary has a pretty bad taxi situation, but what about the rest of the cities around the world where Uber thrives? Are those taxi institutions broken as well? NYC, London, etc? Even if Calgary had a perfectly working taxi industry, what would set that apart from the other cities where Uber infiltrated? It seems like even having a well-functioning system wouldn't make much difference.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I understand Calgary has a pretty bad taxi situation, but what about the rest of the cities around the world where Uber thrives? Are those taxi institutions broken as well? NYC, London, etc? Even if Calgary had a perfectly working taxi industry, what would set that apart from the other cities where Uber infiltrated? It seems like even having a well-functioning system wouldn't make much difference.

It's market economics - clearly there is enough demand to warrant additional supply. I would be curious to see the stats for NYC - is Uber generating new rides or cutting taxi grass?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

It's market economics - clearly there is enough demand to warrant additional supply. I would be curious to see the stats for NYC - is Uber generating new rides or cutting taxi grass?

I would be quite shocked if NYC didn't have enough taxis to meet demand. I have only spent a short while in NYC, and I don't think taxis were in short supply.

Obviously Uber can get away with cutting prices, which was stated earlier as not hurting them so much as hurting their drivers. It will be curious to see how it will play out there - can either side win a price war? Maybe the Uber drivers have some lower operating costs and can price themselves lower than taxis for some period of time, but how long? If nobody is making an appreciable profit for their troubles, I wonder if this will just go sideways on them and push people towards public transit.