CTV News - Vancouver Taxi Industry

CTV News appears to be the only local TV Network that has launched a relentless propaganda war against the Vancouver Taxi Industry. They keep revisiting the same issue from different directions to make it look really bad for the Vancouver cabbies. It is obvious that there is a hidden agenda in these stories.

We at Taxi Rights have taken some time and analysed the CTV News Taxi Videos (left bar) carefully:-

• All the lack of service reports are related to the weekends almost at bar closing.
• There are 40,000 people out and about.
• The bar scene of the entire lower mainland is now on the Granville Mall. Outlying suburbs (like Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, North Vancouver, Coquitlam etc.) have lost almost all their bar business to Vancouver. While this may be profitable to some, the larger picture is that law and order and transportation, have become almost impossible to handle (Friday and Saturday nights).
• All the bar business is localized to a small area in Downtown Vancouver. This means cabs must come back empty to pick up more people. It takes twice as many cabs to do the same job. When bars were spread out to other locations in Vancouver taxis stayed busy with very few dead miles/time. Increasing their idle capacity and effectiveness.
• Skytrain and Busses are not running. Most of these folks are stranded and do not feel they should pay more than a transit fare to get home. Making them top contenders for a cab and dash.
• Taxis are changing shifts
• The law and order situation is dismal, most potential riders have been overserved, some with a cocktail of alchohol and drugs. It is a very volatile situation for violence, being sick in the cab or a no pay. Not something the average cabbie would like to contend with.
• Vancouver Taxi Drivers are extremely tentative when approaching these folks. With the recent CTV News Hype and destortment of facts holigans have their tails up and most cabbies find they are better off to stay away from all the bars at closing time, serving the regular call in business instead.
• Lost and Found is an irrelevant issue and cannot be pinned on the whole taxi industry in Vancouver. We do not condone a taxi driver keeping somebody else's property. However we feel that this is a very rare occurance; and that the exception does not make the rule. The media should desist from stereotyping such issues as they have an adverse effect on the entire Taxi Industry. If a taxi customer has reason to believe that a taxi driver has stolen their property the police should be informed immediately.

  All Taxi Customers should:

  1. Note the Taxi Company name and cab number when they board a Taxi.
  2. Keep a close eye on their property, knowing how many pieces of luggage they have in the trunk etc.
  3. Check the cab for their property when they exit it.
  4. Have their cell phone on some sort of a string fastned to their body, to prevent it from being lost. Too many people lose their cell phones on a regular basis, the majority away from Taxi Cabs. Cell phones are know to have been stolen amongst acquaintances and friends quite frequently.

  Remember all other business have signs that say:- "not responsible for lost or stolen property". It won't be long before we see such disclaimers in taxi cabs as well. The taxi industry is known for it's hospitality and you'll agree with that we have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to accusing others of wrongdoing. There are others that ride in the same space after you have left it and it makes it almost impossible for the taxi driver to monitor each item that is left in the back seat.