Taxis in Calgary

[Calgary14]

I've noticed the taxi industry in Calgary seems to have a monopoly and is very wary of any other form of competition such as an LRT to the airport or Uber.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...each-1.2831406

Compared to other cities taxi service in Calgary clearly sucks. Why are they allowed to have such a monopoly on the city?

I read the metro newspaper regularly and there is a story about Calgary taxis almost daily. Whether it's the lack of cabs or the steep price to get a cab license in town, they sure seem to focus on something most of us seem to have given up on a long time ago.

I've booked a cab to the airport to catch a flight and the cab never showed. That was about two years ago and I haven't even tried using one since.

It would be nice if Calgary cabs had to compete in a free market like other industries

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I'm no fan of Calgary Taxi services, but not sure where you are getting they suck compared to other cities. I don't find Calgary service to be any worse (in fact it's better than some other Canadian cities) than any other Canadian spots, at least for major centers, and certainly doesn't appear to be any less or more of a monopoly than other spots, but maybe I'm wrong.

But go and try and get a cab in Toronto. Half the time they will pretend they are booked after you jump in and tell them where you are going if they don't like the fare, and literally 50% of the time I take a cab there I get into a fight with the cabbie on whether he accepts anything but cash (I'm usually on business so need to pay with my Corporate card).

Calgary is a walk in the park compared to the crap in Toronto.

[GP_Matt]

I think the problem is that the taxi companies donate to municipal campaigns and the people who vote don't take taxis.

[ExiledFlamesFan]

The taxi cartel is powerful and making a lot of money in Calgary. The rules of the free market do not apply to this industry.

[Northendzone]

I would assume that there are likely similar complaints about taxis in almost all major cities.

[calgarywinning]

Only because they are in bed with government, the number one distortion factor of free market.

[Tyler]

Tried Uber when I was down in the US.

Incredibly efficient, fun and inexpensive. No wonder Taxi companies here are scared ####less

[Kjesse]

The taxi dispatch system simply does not work. One reason is a taxi driver will pick a person they see on the road first even if dispatched to pick up another. Another reason is, you can even pre-book a taxi a day in advance, but that doesn't even reserve a taxi... dispatch won't put the order out to the cabs until 15 minutes before the pickup. There are many other reasons.

Uber tilts the system over and tends to balance supply and demand, though uber itself is not perfect and has some issues to overcome. But to the average consumer, uber will be able to achieve something the Calgary taxi system can not do-- make sure everyone gets a ride when they want one.

I'm particularly disappointed with my area's councilor, Richard Pootmans (aka Hard Poo Man). I have made 5 efforts now to get his position on this issue and all I've received (and about a month after my email) was from a staffer of his and the reply was junk-- not addressing the issue in any fashion, just saying it was complicated.

[GP_Matt]

The best way to get a cab is to get to know a driver or two and then text them when you need a ride. The drivers have their own network of friends and will alert someone they know to come pick you up.
If you get a driver you like who is working a shift you normally need a ride during then ask him for his number and text him later for a ride.

[morgin]

It's garbage. I made a reservation for van taxis to take some people down to my wedding in advance to help with some stuff. Cabs never showed. Cab company called 2 hours later to say they were canceling the reservation. Their industry offers atrocious service and they need to be destroyed by actual competition.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Tried Uber when I was down in the US.

Incredibly efficient, fun and inexpensive. No wonder Taxi companies here are scared ####less

Heard this company mentioned in the news tonight (surprisingly they did not mention how it works, and after looking at thier website, it seems like they are a taxi service to me.....

[Calgary14]

Apparently Associated Cabs has the exclusive contract to serve airport customers. This boggles my mind and is basically the complete opposite of a free market system. Not sure how it was justified at the time (I seem to recall hearing about it in the news) but someone must have been paid some serious cash for that to happen

[driveway]

I pity you poor guys. Taipei is a great taxi city, very much like New York or Istanbul. Every fourth or fifth vehicle on the road is a cab and all you need to do to get one is step out onto the street and raise your hand. It's awesome. This is in concert with a phenomenal public-transit system. A clean, cheap, efficient metro and an incredibly extensive bus system.

The bus system is actually privatized with different companies sending buses on publicly-planned routes, competing with each other for fares. Plus the North-South High Speed Rail system AND the slow-rail system that circumnavigates the whole island and I'd be willing to bet this is one of the easiest, cheapest countries to get around in the world.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Apparently Associated Cabs has the exclusive contract to serve airport customers. This boggles my mind and is basically the complete opposite of a free market system. Not sure how it was justified at the time (I seem to recall hearing about it in the news) but someone must have been paid some serious cash for that to happen

I believe the contract is up for bids. For a while the airport was open to all but before that Yellow cabs had the contract.

[GP_Matt]

At the airport there is a contract that allows Associated Cabs a spot to park, a spot to pick up and a guy/signs who directs passengers to them. For that Associated cabs paid the airport authority and made promises about service levels.

Every other cab company can still pick up at the airport but, just like private individuals they are not allowed to wait at the terminal and can only pull up when the person they are picking up is standing in the cell phone area. This means that every other cab company has to have arrangements made in advance to pick up a specific passenger.

*pro tip, if you don't like associated, go upstairs to the departures level and jump in a cab as they are dropping off a passenger.

[corporatejay]

I simply don't understand how anyone can make a reasonable argument for a limit on taxi licenses. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

[ExiledFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I simply don't understand how anyone can make a reasonable argument for a limit on taxi licenses. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

The only people who it makes sense for are the people holding the taxi licenses and local politicians having their palms greased by the cab companies.

At this point the lack of cabs is dangerous. At 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays when bars are closing there are only 2 options for drunk patrons to get home (if they are not within walking distance). Either take a cab (which are in very short supply and finding one is difficult at closing time) or driving home drunk.

We should have enough cabs in this city that option 1 is always available.

[taffeyb]

One of the issues is lack of taxis at night. None of the drivers want to deal with the drunken crowds. I've always said that the city should grant licenses to a brand new cab company. Start with 100 cars and have them painted PINK or something and mandate that these PINK cars cannot be on the roads except during night time hours. Fine that hell out of drivers who operated outside those hours. Hence, if they want to make $$, they have no choice but to work those night time hours. You can also grant easement during busy periods like Stampede or new years....etc. A good way to ensure that he new licenses are allocated to the hours where they are needed. These cannot go to existing cab companies as they'll just hoard and sit on these. Must be new.

[calgarywinning]

Why not just let the free market deal with a solution to the problem. Painting cars pink is good, but there's a lot of drunk cowboys questioning they masculinity who may not want to be seen in a pink taxi.

[cam_wmh]

I've heard the Calgary Airport Authority, is also staunchly against the LRT development, due to their monopoly on the parking there.