City says no to adding more taxis

[Weitz]

Step 1: Download the Yellow/Checker cab app for your smartphone
Step 2: Use app to book taxi
Step 3: Get in taxi that arrives in the exact time the app tells you.

Since downloading this app it has worked 100% of the time (I have not tried it after 10 pm on a weekend).

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Car2go shouldn't be subsidized by people who drive downtown and pay for parking. If Car2go is going to be a viable alternative to owning a private vehicle it should have a cost structure that covers the use of city parking.

The whole cab situation is a joke, the monopoly will be broken eventually.

Car2Go isn't subsidized at all. Car2Go pays parking rates downtown. They get the 25% small car discount that all cars can get when they are smaller than a certain length. This argument has been tried and rebutted many times before. They pay parking tickets. They also send GPS data to the City Parking Authority which shows how many cars were parked Downtown and how much they must pay the city for parking rates.

The clustering issue is senseless and I have not heard a good reason yet why this would be a big deal

[kermitology]

Kind of on topic, but I was shocked last week when I looked at the meter on my cab ride home from the airport..

$20 and I was only at the Airport Trail - Deerfoot Interchange.

THAT IS MADNESS! It cost more to get to Deerfoot than it did to get to my house in Renfrew.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Since downloading this app it has worked 100% of the time (I have not tried it after 10 pm on a weekend).

Then you haven't tried it at all.

I have and it's just as bad as #TAXI

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

No extra taxis, delays to finishing the ring road, new C-Train routes postponed until the end of time. Trying to get around in Calgary is just going to suck more and more for a solid decade.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

No extra taxis, delays to finishing the ring road, new C-Train routes postponed until the end of time. Trying to get around in Calgary is just going to suck more and more for a solid decade.

That's the problem with how we plan and pay for public infrastructure. We should hold off during boom times, when employment and costs are high. Then ramp up construction in downturns, when employment and costs are low. Counter-cyclical spending. But it runs contrary to our intuitions, and a lot of people resent the government spending money when their own finances are looking bad.

[The Yen Man]

Lol, I didn't realize part of the city's job is to make sure the cab companies stay afloat. That's like saying they're going to restrict restaurant licenses to a make sure restaurants in Calgary can all stay open.

Wonder how many kickbacks each councilor gets from cab companies. Must be pretty nice.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by polak

Then you haven't tried it at all.

I have and it's just as bad as #TAXI

Because after 10 pm is the only time of the day?

#taxi works as well at 3 pm as it does at midnight.

[The Ditch]

#taxi is great for being charged $1.75 (rogers) and potentially not getting through, how that isn't a free service is beyond me.

[Coach]

Works as in you can get connected and hear a ring tone?

No way #Taxi is getting you a cab when you SHOULD be using one (ie drunk on a weekend night when the bars clear).

This is the main issue and honestly the main use for taxis in this city. How many people use them during the day? The odd person using it for their commute (seriously? Probably cheaper to buy a car. A nice one.) or people going to/from the airport. Which is great. But when you don't have enough to support the outflow of drunk people from bars on any given weekend night (much less for concerts or hockey games or Stampede), you basically encourage those people to find a different way home. And with trains shut down at those times (also ridiculous) and a poor-to-terrible bus system, it leaves the people with few options to get home outside of illegal/dangerous ones.

Adding more taxi's can only help the city overall. Creates jobs in that sector, helps citizens get home safely when they need it. The only downside is for cab companies who get exposed to market forces. Too bad so sad, you operate in a capitalist country. In the most capitalist of cities in said country. Why these companies have more say than everyone else is completely beyond me.

And this is coming from someone who almost never takes taxis because of my proximity to the train.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by MattyC

This is the main issue and honestly the main use for taxis in this city. How many people use them during the day? The odd person using it for their commute (seriously? Probably cheaper to buy a car. A nice one.) or people going to/from the airport. Which is great. But when you don't have enough to support the outflow of drunk people from bars on any given weekend night (much less for concerts or hockey games or Stampede), you basically encourage those people to find a different way home. And with trains shut down at those times (also ridiculous) and a poor-to-terrible bus system, it leaves the people with few options to get home outside of illegal/dangerous ones.

According to the data in this report to council (http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sire...5125237945.PDF) average hourly trip count (for January 2015) is higher during the day (5am to 5pm) with the exception of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

[northcrunk]

The only reason I see to regulate the number of cabs on the road is political kick backs. Civic politics is already horrible at managing campaign limits (if there even are any). Same with only allowing a single company to operate at the airport. I wonder how much of a kickback councillers got on that one.

[para transit fellow]

just curious... has anyone one in this thread driven taxi in Calgary?

(I did six months but it was back in 1990)

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Car2go shouldn't be subsidized by people who drive downtown and pay for parking. If Car2go is going to be a viable alternative to owning a private vehicle it should have a cost structure that covers the use of city parking.

The whole cab situation is a joke, the monopoly will be broken eventually.

Car2go pays the full "small car" rate for parking, plus they pay (at least under the old structure) for residential zone parking, which no one else does.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Because after 10 pm is the only time of the day?

#taxi works as well at 3 pm as it does at midnight.

Umm past 10 pm on weekend is THE ONLY time when cabs matter.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

According to the data in this report to council (http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sire...5125237945.PDF) average hourly trip count (for January 2015) is higher during the day (5am to 5pm) with the exception of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

That graph shows that the average amount of trips is almost double during the night of Friday and Saturday than any other time on any other day. And if you take all the data together, over 60% of taxi rides occur on Friday or Saturday and the evenings on those days account for 25% of all cab rides.

I think it's safe to say that weekends make up most of the cab demand in this city (and the nights with the most condensed demand, meaning there are less available per person who wants one because more people want them in a confined area and timeframe. Not to mention this data only takes into account those who actually GOT cabs. Whereas we don't know how many people took the option to drive home after trying for a cab (something which is not as much of a hazard for those commuting, particularly before 5 as they are assumed to not stay after work drinking).

The point is, we don't know the full demand for cabs because the licenses are controlled. All the data is skewed to reflect this. The only way to know the full demand for cabs and what is necessary is to allow for the market to set demand.

[1stLand]

I used Uber when I was in Orlando Florida and the service was great.
Waited 10 min at most and rides were 50% to 75% cheaper than cab rates

[calumniate]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

That's the problem with how we plan and pay for public infrastructure. We should hold off during boom times, when employment and costs are high. Then ramp up construction in downturns, when employment and costs are low. Counter-cyclical spending. But it runs contrary to our intuitions, and a lot of people resent the government spending money when their own finances are looking bad.

Absolutely. Hard to talk about stimulating the economy in a downturn when you're already tapped out. This would definitely smooth over the bumps in the road.

These extreme highs and lows cause inefficiencies as well (spending on infrastructure when costs are high as you mentioned, for example)

[Mr.Coffee]

Can anyone smarter than me explain the difference between the (seemingly) obvious corruption and kickbacks as alleged in this thread and / or lobbying?

What's the difference between "lobbying" and bribery? Why is this not causing more of an outrage in the city?

Seems just unbelievably greasy by our city officials but I might be missing something because it appears so blindingly wrong.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Lobbying does not involve handing your elected official a stack of cash in exchange for political favours?