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Taxis and ride-sharing in Toronto

Admiral Beez

Admiral Beez

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I would like to see Toronto's taxi system changed to ensure that every taxi used in Toronto is in good condition, and that the driver can make a living wage. I want driving a cab in Toronto to be a career choice, not a desperate choice. My model is the black cabs of London, UK, where if your cab has a dent, it must be taken off the road, and where the drivers must undergo difficult testing.

First step must be an annoucement from city hall that all taxi permit plates will expire in 2015. This will give enough time for all those supposed grannies and pensioners that apparently depend of the plate rental fees they charge to find another source of income. Lifetime ownership of cab permits is not permited, unless your driving the cab yourself for a lifetime. When you stop driving a cab, your permit expires, and can not be transfered, sold or bequethed to anyone.

Second step, starting immediately, all taxis must be Owner Operated, which means the owner of the permit must be the driver. He can not loan out the cab to his friends or family. Each person can only own one permit for one cab. Cab companies, Beck, etc. can not purchase permits. I know that the Ambassador system has some of this now, but I want the entire cab network changed.

Alternatively, if we allow mulitple permit ownership, then cab drivers must be treated as employees of the owner-operator, not indentured servants, and be paid an hourly minimum wage, plus benefits, plus whatever tips they make.

Third, Toronto cabs must be in good working order. Good brakes, no evident rust, no broken seat belts, floating suspensions, strange smells, etc.

Fourth, Toronto cabs must be one colour, I don't really care which, purple, grey, beige, red, you choose.

Fifth, Toronto cab drivers should be well trained. Fluent English should be mandatory. Expert knowledge of Toronto's streets should be mandatory.

By 2015 when all the old system licenses expire, we'll replace them all with Owner-Operated permits.

What are the barriers to this?
 
Admiral Beez said:
What are the barriers to this?
Click to expand...

Cost. If all we had were black cabs, for a lot of people it would suddenly be less expensive to own a car. They're ridiculous. Also, in London, due the the outrageous price of black cabs there are now unlicenced "mini-cabs", which are way more sketchy and dangerous than toronto cabs, but many people take them (read: me when i'm in england) as they are simply unable to pay the for a black cab.

If you want a limo, get a limo. They're really nice and available and still cost less than a London black cab.
 
This all sounds very expensive and will not reduce the cost of taking a cab in Toronto. As the previous poster noted, what you are looking for is a limo. Don't force the rest of us to use limos if we don't want to.

I don't really have any problem with the cabs in Toronto, and therefore don't particularly want to burden them with extra costs for no real reason.

Incidentally, allowing only owners to drive cabs will ensure that there are no cabs around in the middle of the night, since anyone that wants to drive in the day would no longer be allowed to rent it out to someone else at night.
 
Admiral Beez said:
I would like to see Toronto's taxi system changed to ensure that every taxi used in Toronto is in good condition, and that the driver can make a living wage. I want driving a cab in Toronto to be a career choice, not a desperate choice. My model is the black cabs of London, UK, where if your cab has a dent, it must be taken off the road, and where the drivers must undergo difficult testing.

First step must be an annoucement from city hall that all taxi permit plates will expire in 2015. This will give enough time for all those supposed grannies and pensioners that apparently depend of the plate rental fees they charge to find another source of income. Lifetime ownership of cab permits is not permited, unless your driving the cab yourself for a lifetime. When you stop driving a cab, your permit expires, and can not be transfered, sold or bequethed to anyone.

Second step, starting immediately, all taxis must be Owner Operated, which means the owner of the permit must be the driver. He can not loan out the cab to his friends or family. Each person can only own one permit for one cab. Cab companies, Beck, etc. can not purchase permits. I know that the Ambassador system has some of this now, but I want the entire cab network changed.

Alternatively, if we allow mulitple permit ownership, then cab drivers must be treated as employees of the owner-operator, not indentured servants, and be paid an hourly minimum wage, plus benefits, plus whatever tips they make.

Third, Toronto cabs must be in good working order. Good brakes, no evident rust, no broken seat belts, floating suspensions, strange smells, etc.

Fourth, Toronto cabs must be one colour, I don't really care which, purple, grey, beige, red, you choose.

Fifth, Toronto cab drivers should be well trained. Fluent English should be mandatory. Expert knowledge of Toronto's streets should be mandatory.

By 2015 when all the old system licenses expire, we'll replace them all with Owner-Operated permits.

What are the barriers to this?
Click to expand...

I'm all for the part about ending plate ownership. A relation of the wife has never worked at a job; and collects the 'rent' from his drivers. Unlike a landlord, there isn't even a product - an apartment - in return for the rent. Just a needless middleman with no added value.

It may be unrealistic to expect that other drivers won't 'fill in' for the owner. I have entered a cab and come across this occasionally, not only in Toronto. I suppose more enforcement is the answer here.

Not sure about the speaking English part - I've never failed to make myself understood. Most drivers in Toronto speak with an accent, even heavy at times, but some of them have better vocabularies than this native.:)

The condition of cab seats is a problem too - if they are cloth they are always gross. Can seats should be vinyl.
 
Start your own cab business and make these ideas company policy. I have a feeling you won't get more than a handful of customers, but maybe I'm wrong.
 
theman23 said:
Start your own cab business and make these ideas company policy. I have a feeling you won't get more than a handful of customers, but maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

well, you can always start a combination rub & tug / taxi service. you're bound to get a "handful of customers" then. ;)
 
The taxi driver i had last week had no idea where the Ricoh Coliseum and the Direct engery centre was, he had to get his map out :mad:
 
At least half the taxi's I take downtown don't know the core as well as me... or they are trying to swindle me out of my coin.

Either way, it is very very annoying. I can't wait till it is warm so I can get on my bike.
 
I don't have much experience with cabs (only a couple of rides), but what I would like to have in a cab is a silent ride by default. I know that cabbies want to try to be friendly (and practice their English) by talking to passengers, but I'm not really one to talk to strangers.

One time, the day after the US bombed Somalia, by some coincidence I hopped into a cab driven by a Somali immigrant. The whole time I was in the cab he screamed at me about how much he hated America while shoving newspaper articles in my face. How glad I was when the trip was over!
 
gabe said:
The taxi driver i had last week had no idea where the Ricoh Coliseum and the Direct engery centre was, he had to get his map out :mad:
Click to expand...
Maybe they should just have a GPS terminal (with keyboard) in the taxi - type in destination - and whala (could also allow alterations by taxi central for changes in traffic conditions based on GPS tracing of other rides :rolleyes:). It has got to still be cheaper than buying one of those black cabs :eek:
 
I remember those English black cabs being very ricketty and uncomfortable. I'd stick with our North American fleet.
 
Some knowledge test, like London's, should be instituted. Knowing Toronto geography is a basic function of their job. Much like how a basic knowledge of WHMIS is a requirement for most or all manufacturing jobs.

I can understand not knowing where smaller streets are, but, for example, I shouldn't have to explain where Dufferin & St. Clair is (which happened on the weekend).
 
We need more courteous drivers in Toronto - ones that dont start ragging you out on 5:30 in the morning because you asked for the Taxi at the side door instead of saying east entrance. (And the side entrance is the only one a car could pull up to as well with my building...)
 
How about we just take on my one proposal, that of ending lifetime taxi permits by 2015 and move the entire fleet to owner-operator, with any non-owner drivers being employees of the operator with minimum wage plus tips?
 
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