Taxis and ride-sharing in Toronto

[BurlingtonJames]

I wonder how good Uber is outside of the city? I'm thinking of taking VIA rail to Kitchener and then need a ride to Baden (about 15 kms).

Should be fine. I've taken UberX from Toronto to Burlington (well outside the service area) a few times without issue.

 

[StatGeek]

Watched South Park last night, they had a hilarious take on the Taxi vs Uber situation. It's pretty hilarious, it's right on the money on what is happening here.

 

[MetroMan]

Last night outside the Lenny Kravitz concert, you could not get a cab. There were — for lack of a better word — cab pimps roaming the crowd asking people if they needed a cab. When you said yes, they asked you were you were going. If it was too close, they just pointed you to a general area. If you were going far, they would escort you to a cab. This sounds highly illegal. When approaching the cab lineup, every single cab had their back doors locked and asked you first where you were going before they would unlock the door.

How is this allowed to happen? A by-law officer could fine dozens of cabs like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[mpd618]

But they don't go to Baden. Oh well...

The taxi by-law that Uber isn't following is that of the Region of Waterloo, which includes Baden. So if they don't follow it in K-W, they could just as well not follow it in Baden....

 

[Lone Primate]

If you were going far, they would escort you to a cab. This sounds highly illegal. When approaching the cab lineup, every single cab had their back doors locked and asked you first where you were going before they would unlock the door.

How is this allowed to happen? A by-law officer could fine dozens of cabs like shooting fish in a barrel.

And people wonder how things like Uber get started. There's so much wrong with the taxi industry in Toronto. Are taxi licenses still being handed down like earldoms and rented out to the people who really ought to have them?

 

[ShonTron]

Last night outside the Lenny Kravitz concert, you could not get a cab. There were — for lack of a better word — cab pimps roaming the crowd asking people if they needed a cab. When you said yes, they asked you were you were going. If it was too close, they just pointed you to a general area. If you were going far, they would escort you to a cab. This sounds highly illegal. When approaching the cab lineup, every single cab had their back doors locked and asked you first where you were going before they would unlock the door.

How is this allowed to happen? A by-law officer could fine dozens of cabs like shooting fish in a barrel.

I've threatened cabbies who refused my fare with a 311 call and follow-up with ML&S. That angers them to no end, but you might grudgingly get that ride.

 

[Tuscani01]

I've become a lot less impressed with the quality of Uber's drivers and their vehicles as of recent. My last two trips were in vehicles strewn with kids toys and the personal belongings of the driver. The AC wasn't working on the second of these trips.

As have I...

BUT

Only Uber continues to offer refunds when I am not satisfied with the service. Before Uber, the idea that you could be refunded your cab fare never even occurred to me. Most recent case involved requesting a ride, and waiting for it to arrive, only to realize it was already there but waiting wayyyyyy at the back of the parking lot where I was.

I left feedback about the incident and Uber credited the trip cost without me even asking!

 

[Lone Primate]

I left feedback about the incident and Uber credited the trip cost without me even asking!

That's pretty classy. I hope the city finds a working modus vivendi for Uber. It would be a shame to lose the option. And it might sharpen the cab industry up as well.

 

[the lemur]

Well now.

https://twitter.com/SueAnnLevy/status/642005056854880256
Sue-Ann Levy ‏@SueAnnLevy 28m28 minutes ago
Beck Driver #1462 just threw me out of his cab calling me all kinds of obscene names because I asked why he didn't know where he was going.

https://twitter.com/SueAnnLevy/status/642005410518573056
Uber all the way after Beck driver just screamed obscenities at me and threw me out of his cab. #1462

Finally, the mainstream media may be acknowledging the callous awfulness of Beck.

 

[mdrejhon]

I haven't taken either taxis or Uber often enough lately to see current degradation in Uber, however -- I generally still can take a whole Uber ride without speaking a single word. The driver figures out I am deaf, and will focus on the journey for me. Pre-paid, pre-routed, and I exit immediately at destination.

If there is an issue, I can easily raise a complaint through the Uber app that gives quick refunds. I haven't yet, but most customers get a refund when they complain! Especially if the GPS map shows issue (Uber overshot exit, took long route, or let me off early). Fortunately, this has not happened to me, but I hear wonderful things about the Uber refund process.

I am getting concerned about the concurrent degradations of both the taxi system (increased taxi driver frustration/abuse) and the uber system (less vetting/training per driver, caused by fast Uber driver signups). My impression is that the Uber experience is still light years ahead of the local city cab system. My region's local newspaper interviewed several Uber drivers, and profiled them.

Fortunately, Uber quickly fire drivers when they get too many low reviews via their app. The taxi system does not generally have similiar recourse, as it usually takes a media publicity effort to get a taxi driver fired.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Licensing committee rejects plan to OK and regulate Uber - Toronto Star

I'll let everyone read the rest of the story, but I want to share what I find painfully stupid reason why it was rejected as one city councillor framed it:

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, however, said he won’t endorse an approach that encourages “unharnessed, uncontrolled, unbridled private enterprise” that will cause “great harm” over the long run.

“The message that I don’t want to give anybody . . . is that we as a city reward people who break rules, notwithstanding what quality of service they provide,” he said.

“The public interest is not guided by what people want,” Di Giorgio said. “We as politicians cannot deliver everything that people want.”

Source: The Toronto Star

I don't know what to say to this level of stupid? You have a court ruling saying you can regulate Uber, but not under existing rules. You have the voting public who favours having Uber in the taxi transit mix, but you rejected a report on how to bring Uber under the regulatory umbrella. All because you can't deliver what people want, even thought its your job, and you can deliver want people want on this issue.

Someone remind me why we have a city council? Is it just a make-work program to keep crazy people off the streets during daylight hours? Because it's oblivious they can't do the job that is in their legal powers given to them by the province.

 

[PinkLucy]

Unbridled private enterprise? Yeah, that's a problem. Nothing was ever accomplished that way.

 

[Napoleon]

Having listened to much of the Gardiner debate on simulcast, I no longer have to be astonished at anything city council says.

I am disappointed the city is not trying to find a way to work with Uber. I did have a moment recently in Lisbon when I was thankful for traditional taxi cabs. I had to go to the airport at 4 AM from a hotel outside of the downtown core. It's the exact situation where no one knows if they can depend on an Uber being available. Thankfully, there's a rank of taxis that just line up at the hotel. So, while I was thankful it was there, it also emphasizes just how inefficient the situation is. Instead of earning fares, the taxis just sit in a line in at a hotel waiting to be called.

Anyway, so while I'm incredibly pro-Uber, I do want to recognize a role and place for traditional taxis.

 

[MetroMan]

Funny that you mention Lisbon. I too was saved by a traditional cab in Lisbon when my flight got delayed and I arrived at 1AM. I took a commuter train and missed my stop on the last train and ended up in a dark area with my phone at 5% battery and very little cash. I had no clue where I was and without data, the phone wouldn't help anyway. I wandered outside the station and found a couple of cabs waiting. The driver agreed to take me to my dad's place almost an hour away even though I had no money on me and didn't even know if my dad would have cash to pay him that night. He was conversational, polite and drove in a safe way, taking the most direct route and paying for the tolls out of his pocket.

I could never imagine a Toronto cab driver doing that. Never. That's the difference. When Uber inevitably takes over, I'll be smiling and waving goodbye at the failing cab industry here. They're obsolete and they brought this on to themselves. Good riddance.

 

[salsa]