BY TRACEY DUGUAY
Where have all the taxi drivers gone?
According to statistics provided by the city, there is a 37 percent decrease in the number of people who applied for a licence to drive a taxi in Greater Sudbury.
City Taxi owner John Desjardins says the number is ?significant? and very telling about the state of the taxi business in the city. While he knew there was a problem, the statistic is so troubling, he asked a city employee to double check the numbers.
Desjardin is a member of a committee of taxi company owners and drivers who believe drivers are being driven out by an overly bureaucratic system and punitive bylaws implemented by the city.
?We?re all hurting for drivers,? said Aaron Taxi employee Linda Craig, another member of the committee.
These new rules and bylaws were supposed to ease the difficulties taxi companies were experiencing following amalgamation. Ironically, the committee says due to the city?s involvement, the problems are intensifying to the point where it?s hard for them to stay in business.
?It?s time to visit the bylaws they?ve rammed down our throats,? Craig said.
The committee, around 15 people, met Monday to discuss the problems affecting the taxi business in order to ready themselves for an anticipated public meeting slated for October.
Earlier this year, city council voted in favour of re-opening discussions surrounding the contentious Taxi, Limousine & Shuttle Transportation Bylaw 2003-3.
Ward 2 Councillor Claude Berthiaume was appointed chair of the review and will hear input from the public, as well as owners and drivers of these services. The meeting will focus on zoning, airport service, barrier free accessible service and procedures for establishing tariffs.
One big issue of concern to the committee that isn?t on the agenda involves the training course drivers are required to take.
New drivers are forced to take a four-day or eight-evening certificate course at a cost of $176.41. The eight-hour, two-day refresher course, which must be taken annually before renewing a taxi license, costs $91.85.
Those in the business say they can?t understand why a certificate course is needed or why the cost is so high. New drivers who pay for the course sometimes don?t even last long on the job so many are reluctant to take it in the first place.
The committee would prefer the course be offered over the Internet, preferably at a lower price, so they don?t have to take so much time off work to complete it, similar to the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS) course.
The zoning system is another major source of frustration for the committee, which would prefer the city abolish the system, rather than change it.
Under the zoning regulations, taxi companies are only licensed to serve specific areas in the city. Zone 1 covers the former City of Sudbury, Zone 2 outlying communities, and a third category, Zone 2 Plus Airport, gives access to Zone 2, plus exclusive rights to airport traffic.
While the committee understands the need to protect territories from poaching by other drivers, they?re not sure it needs to be written into a bylaw.
?Before it was a gentleman?s agreement,? Craig said, adding that in most cases it worked quite well.
Customers are the ones losing out because they aren?t able to call the taxi company of their choice. Garrit Van De Kraats, an independent cab owner, disagrees with the zoning because for him it?s ?all about freedom of choice.?
As well, in some areas, like Lively, the committee says, the taxi service doesn?t run late into the night, so customers are getting stranded.
In one case they cited, a customer actually phoned Ward 1 Councillor Eldon Gainer late at night after calling the Lively taxi company and getting no answer. Supposedly, Gainer advised them to call a Garson cab company.
To the committee, it just doesn?t make sense for a customer in Lively to have to call a cab in Garson, when a Zone 1 driver is closer. They think the problem can be solved by agreeing to service loyal customers or return fares, but not poach on territory.
One of the last main issues for the committee is the rising cost of fuel. While city council OK?d a six-percent tariff increase in August, it doesn?t cover the skyrocketing prices of gas. The problem is when the city revisits price increase for taxi companies, the decision is based on last year?s gas prices, the committee says.
They would like to see tariff rates reviewed on a three-month basis or anytime the gas prices increase by .20 cents a litre.
While only time will tell whether the city and council takes the concerns of the taxi business seriously and listens to their needs, the committee is willing to take the next step and stage a ?mass strike? to get their point across.
