Calgary's Cab Scene

[Calgarian]

There's an app that does that, but I think the cab commission is trying to take them to court...

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

There's an app that does that, but I think the cab commission is trying to take them to court...

Associated has an app too

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Spring2008

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/06/22...or-more-plates

And yet we are still guaranteeing the drivers incomes, time for the government to step out of this role in the industry, act as a proper regulator not a guarantor.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Associated has an app too

Excellent! I love the world of apps, where we can fragment the market and pretend like we're all AOL subscribers locked into our own tiny universe! Text and web are considered standards for a reason. Fucking dead simple and every smartphone can do them. Until this happens, we'll still be in the same mess we are today. Well actually worse, because at least today I can use any phone to call any cab company. I don't have to create a lookup matrix of phone manufacturer/cell provider/OS version/app version/random fad technology of the week to determine if I can use a particular service.

And as for "no busy signals during Stampede"... um, personally, busy signals are the least of my complaints. I'm much more concerned about, you know, actually getting the ride home. Hiring a ton of call centre workers isn't going to solve a damned thing. We need more cabs on the streets, end of story. And an end to the taxi oligarchies.

Of course the real solution to Stampede is to forbid cabs from downtown at all - or make it very expensive to operate in the core during the busiest hours. Force everyone to take the train to an outlying station, and have the cabs pooled there. Each cab ride would be a fraction of the time, and we'd be able to move a hell of a lot more people every night. We do it for workday commutes already.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Do any cab companies have a 'book via text message'? having a computer booking system which can receive thousands of txts per hour and auto respond that you are booked would be great. Assuming you're booking with a cell phone anyway.

Associated has an iPhone App that you can book through.

[Policy Wonk]

I would love to see this headline in the Calgary Herald some day:

Ride services decimate S.F. taxi industry's business
Michael Cabanatuan
Updated 6:42 pm, Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The fall of the taxi industry in San Francisco, as less-regulated ride services have taken hold, has been both steep and sharp. The number of trips taken by taxi plummeted 65 percent in just 15 months, according to a report presented to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board Tuesday.

It's been evident that the booming popularity of app-dispatched ride services like Lyft and Uber have dramatically eaten into the taxi industry's business. But the report on the status of the taxi industry reveals the depth of the impact.

The average number of trips per taxi has been on a steady slide - from 1,424 per month in March 2012 to 504 this July.

The new ride services "have dramatically changed the for-hire transportation industry in San Francisco," said Kate Toran, the city's new taxis and accessible services director.

While the MTA regulates the taxi industry, the state Public Utilities Commission has claimed jurisdiction over the new ride services, which typically contract with people to use their personal cars to carry passengers who hail them with a smartphone app.

The new companies, unlike taxi operators, have lesser insurance requirements, no restrictions on the number of vehicles they put on the streets, no clean-air standards and less-stringent background checks. The newcomers say they're replacing a failed industry, while the taxi companies claim they're underregulated scofflaws.

Among biggest impacts of the ride services has been the drop in taxi rides taken by people in ramp taxis, which carry people in wheelchairs. As the ride services have grown and the number of cabs has diminished, so has the availability of wheelchair-accessible taxis, which are costlier to operate. The number of pickups in ramp taxis dropped from a high of 1,378 in March 2013 to just 768 in July. The ride services are not required to pick up people in wheelchairs. MTA officials have offered incentives to cab companies to keep more ramp taxis on the road.

The agency has already taken steps to keep taxis part of the city's transportation landscape by reducing or eliminating fees and streamlining regulations. They've also required electronic information systems in all cabs and encouraged the use of dispatching apps. Most cabs now use electronic hailing apps similar to what the ride services offer.

But MTA directors and some taxi drivers and managers said more is needed. Director Malcolm Heinicke wants to make it mandatory for taxis to have e-hailing apps, and taxi drivers said they want the city to keep ride services and limousines out of transit-only lanes and taxi stands.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...#photo-6687009

[*Stardust*]

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/calg...mber-1.2774341

Finally!

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by *Stardust*

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/calg...mber-1.2774341

Finally!

Glad to hear, hope they go forward with some level of deregulation soon. Time to stop protecting private interests from competition.

[Spring2008]

^about time. Here's the full article:

Calgary getting more taxi cabs by December
NEW1:06 PM MT
CBC News
City council has approved a plan to get more taxis on Calgary's streets.

Officials are adding 383 new plates, which will go to taxi drivers. The plates will be owned by the city so brokers can't acquire them.

The new cabs must also be on the streets at peak times, such as weekend evenings, as well as in December and during the Calgary Stampede.

City council voted to immediately put out one-third of the new taxis — or 126 cabs — so they'll be on the streets by December. The balance of the new plates will be issued next year.

Council has also approved an 8.1 per cent hike in taxi rates that will take effect immediately. That means the cost of a kilometre-long taxi trip has increased from $4.85 to $5.27, while a 10-kilometre trip has increased from $18.80 to $20.27.

[*Stardust*]

I'm so happy! It was getting ridiculous. So hopefully less than a 5 minute wait during Friday or Saturday nights

[Fuzz]

Awesome they managed an 8.1% price hike too! I don't take cabs much, do they go up every year, or is this like a 5 year thing?

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by *Stardust*

I'm so happy! It was getting ridiculous. So hopefully less than a 5 minute wait during Friday or Saturday nights

lol....good luck with that!

[Deepstar]

Those who live around downtown have the option of walking most places or using car2go.

[pulkit10]

Originally Posted by Deepstar

Those who live around downtown have the option of walking most places or using car2go.

Except that cabs are most necessary on those late Saturday nights where you've had a few to drink and it's really cold outside. Either walking or driving is not an option. Of course, this isn't the case everytime but just one such scenario where that'd be unacceptable.

Cabs obviously still have a role to fill so the service needs to be improved. The City could start by allowing companies like Uber into the market but this being Calgary, that'll take another 20 years.

[Policy Wonk]

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