Taxis and ridesharing in Ottawa

[m0nkyman]

Taxis are an important part of our transit infrastructure.... so we should probably have a thread about them....

Here's a story to start things off with:

Taxi drivers angered by mayor's remarks

Jake Rupert
The Ottawa Citizen

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Anger verging on violence erupted at city hall Wednesday after taxi drivers interpreted remarks from Mayor Larry O'Brien as disrespectful.

Just before council voted to maintain its requirement for all taxis to have security cameras installed by July 1, Mr. O'Brien said for him, the matter is primarily a question of public safety - and driver safety second.

This prompted outrage and shouts of "f--- you" as about 60 drivers filed out of council chambers before the vote was taken.

Union leader Yusef Al Mezel immediately called the remarks demeaning and insensitive and accused the mayor of treating cab drivers as "second-class citizens" during a heated moment outside council chambers, while several police officers looked on.

"This is too much," Mr. Al Mezel said. "We are hard-working taxpayers, and they are treating us like criminals."

Mr. Al Mezel and other union leaders said the camera decision, which will cost each car owner $1,500, will contribute to an expected strike in the spring. They say contract talks with Blue Line, the city's largest cab company, are going poorly, and the drivers are fed up with the company and the city's management of the industry.

After the vote, Mr. O'Brien said he didn't mean any disrespect. He said his meaning was that the cameras would protect the public and drivers equally and apologized for "any confusion" his comments may have caused.

But by that point, the drivers said, they were beyond apologies. They said they will not install the cameras, and if the city wants to try to punish them or take their licences, the city will have a fight on its hands.

Taxi drivers and company owners say the cost of the cameras is too much. They also say the city has left the door open for invading drivers' privacy by not guaranteeing any information collected by the cameras would only be used in criminal investigations.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008


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