Ever heard of Taxi Watch?

Before you enter a taxi cab, you give the driver your id which is scanned. You ride the taxi cab, however if you make trouble during the trip (swear at the driver, don’t pay, etc), your picture is retrieved from the system, and along with your id, you are banned from all Taxi Cabs in the lower mainland for a period of one year.

This seems like a fairy tale that would give Kevin Falcon the protagonist of Taxirights in BC nightmares.

Why should Bar watch be any different from Taxi Watch?

Taxi drivers are alone, bars have security and metal detectors. Please give your comments

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Taximeter Flags at $3.05 for the first 57.71 meters.

compared with most other cities in North America this is very cheap.

Flag 3.05 for the first 57.71 metres

Distance (per km) 1.73

Waiting Time (hourly) 31.00

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As a Taxi Customer, what is the level of service you expect from a Taxi Driver?

Most Taxi Drivers feel that a safe and courteous ride should suffice. Anything over and above this is up to the individual driver. Now what are your expectations from your taxi driver, and if these are over and above the standard, are you willing to compensate such a driver with a suitable reward/gratuity.

Do you feel the taxi driver should play the radio for you at your desired station/volume? Even if you are riding for a couple of blocks.

Should the taxi driver allow you to smoke in the taxi?

Consumption of Alcohol?

Running errands, while you wait in the taxi?

Answer all the questions you have for the driver, even if you ask all taxi drivers the same questions. Even if all drivers have met the likes of you and answered the same questions countless times.

Stay off the phone as it is rude or not talk in another language with you in the taxi.

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CTV is right next door to the Hotel Vancouver. So it must not have taken much to convince the doorman to talk to the camera.

Hotel Vancouver Doorman is conned into joining the propaganda

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The so called “taxi bill of rights”, proposed and forced upon the taxi industry by Kevin Falcon transportation minister, states as follows:

As a Taxi Passenger you have the right to:

* Be picked up and transported to your stated destination by any available on duty taxi driver.
Easier said than done.

What is the matter you ask? If the driver is behind the seat and his light is on (night) he has to pick up any and all valid fares regardless of the destination. Sure if the cabbie has no rights or civil liberties. There are a plethora of valid reasons for a taxi driver not to be able to take a long trip, even though his shift change time is a long way away.

All these have impending times, lets say in 30 minutes or so.

1. He is about to go on a lunch, coffee break (meeting other taxi driver friends) in 30 minutes so a long out of town trip is not possible, However short trips are no problem.
2. He has a doctors appointment or some other appointment.
3. Has to pick his kids up form school at a certain time.
4. Has a prior commitment coming up shortly transporting a regular customer who gives him a lot of business, and who he would like to continue serving. Short trips to fill in the time are no problem.
5. He is holding collateral or other items (that someone left in his cab), and is awaiting a phone call so he can deliver it. The caller then has to take this lost item (laptop, cell phone etc) on a trip so needs it immediately upon calling.
6. He is not planning on working a full shift, and wants to quit in 30 minutes.
7. He does not want to drive long distances like he does all other times (can be proven using GPS records). He is tired, and would like to have an easy going day today!
8. Has a girlfriend he visits everyday at mid shift.
9. He take a walks or goes to the gym in the middle of his shift. Too much sitting in the same place has compromised his health.
10. He has a flatulent stomach and needs to go the the restroom every 20 minutes or so. Taking short trips is okay, but sitting in traffic for long periods of time may lead to a messy situation.

Like I said, the list is endless.

There is nothing in a taxi drivers hiring agreement that states s/he cannot do the above freely.

What is your mindset is the real question. Do you believe:

• A taxi driver has no civil rights or freedoms.
• A taxi driver is your servant or better still a slave.

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It’s 5 pm on Friday, you hail a cab at Homer and Nelson downtown Vancouver, and ask the cabbie to take you to the Plaza 500 Hotel at 12th and Cambie. The taxi driver advises you that the traffic situation on the Cambie bridge is a nightmare and it’s a better idea to go around BC place or take the Granville bridge. It’s a 10 dollar taxi ride and the driver says to you that he can do it for $12 dollars including tip if he goes his way, it’ll be faster and he the driver will also be able to keep working.

You’ve been watching CTV, and are up to speed with all the propaganda that is going down about cab drivers being cheats. Making flat rates, ripping people off – the despicable state of affairs of the Vancouver Taxi Industry as CTV anchor Bill Good likes to call it in his sensationalized news coverage of the Vancouver cabbies.

There is this new thing called the “Taxi Bill of Rights”, and I have heard about it you tell the driver, I take this route everyday and never have had a problem with the Cambie Bridge.

The taxi driver has been bullied into taking you over the Cambie bridge.

Once you cross the midway point … viola! You’re in the midst of a traffic jam. The traffic is barely moving, a parking lot just as the Cab Driver had said. No problem you think, I’m the paying customer I’ll give this chap a 2 dollar tip and walk the rest of the way. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, the meter reads 5 dollars here’s 7 you throw the money on the front seat, and get out of the taxi. The poor taxi driver does not even have the ability to follow you. What will he say even if he could catch up to you? You paid him more than what the meter read. This is something he should have thought when he decided to become a taxi driver. It’s a part of the job.

Do Kevin Falcon, Bill Good, Rob Brown, Lisa Rossington or any other monger of this so called ‘taxi bill of rights’ have any clue how often such a situation occurs? Or how long it will take that poor taxi driver to get out of the traffic jam you left him (pun intended) Instead of bullying him, you could have taken his route, or taken alternative transportation. Now one can argue that is still the driver’s fault as he has the ability to ask for a deposit in this wonderful bill and he could have asked you for a 32 dollar deposit for the meter fare it would have taken to eventually get to the Plaza 500 from Homer and Nelson (hour in the cab over the Cambie bridge that is), but lets be realistic here. We all know that if the driver did so then the accusation that taxi drivers are rip offs would be substantiated.

Such a situation will happen more often to the taxi driver than the rider, which is why he is the best judge of the conditions. And should have the ability to decide the course of his working day. Let him do his job. Regardless of the propaganda the majority of the drivers in Vancouver are thorough professionals, who know the city like the back of their hands and know how to appease good customers. The non-frequent riders are the most troublesome!

Other examples of situations when the rider will try to impose a route upon the driver and where this so called ‘Taxi Bill of Rights’ is so flimsy:-

Going a route:-

• that is not a thoroughfare.
• that is traffic calmed.
• takes longer to travel on (traffic and red lights etc), but costs the same as the longer faster route.

Unless you’re making a stop, there is no real reason to make a fuss about a route that takes longer to travel or goes through a residential area etc. I can see if all factors are equal one asks the driver if he wouldn’t mind going a certain route because you like the view. Most riders are confident the route they take is shorter / better than the cabbies. Have you ever tried maps.google.com? Route comparisons are a slice

1st & Commercial to Seymour and Smythe via Expo Blvd is 4.5 kms or (2.75+[4.5*1.59])=$9.95 approximately with no time considerations.

1st & Commercial to Seymour and Smythe is via Venables and the Georgia viaduct is 4.9 kms or (2.75+[4.5*1.59])=$10.55 approximately with no time considerations. This route is 60 cents more if time is not considered. The only problem on the first route is the train on Venables, but is always faster and cheaper because the big long light on Terminal avenue can be avoided. FYI waiting time is 10 cents for every 15 seconds, so the 60 cent difference is negated by a short 90 second wait.

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The Taxi Bill of Rights is not a Bill or anything legal at all! It is an agreement between the Passenger Transportation Board and the taxi industry. It is only enforced in Downtown Vancouver. The popular belief is that this so called Taxi Bill of Rights has no road map or documentation to verify its validity and that the cab companies were given no say in the matter. We have repeatedly asked the BC Ministry of Transportation to give us details, reports and recommendations, minutes from meetings etc, with no positive outcome. We are still pursuing this cause and will update the site when the ministry obliges us (If they must dispel the rumors).

Downtown Vancouver BC is unique and may become difficult to service (only at times) because of the following.

1. No Public Transit after 1.20 am on Monday to Saturday and Midnight on Sundays and Holidays.
2. Bars close time is 3 am seven days of the week (Sunday – Thursday the bars on the 900 block of Granville Street are allowed to open till 3 am. Friday and Saturday bars in other parts of downtown Vancouver also have permits to operate until 3 am).
3. Friday and Saturday nights see overwhelming numbers of club goers (on an average weekend night 30,000 – 40,000 people are out and about downtown Vancouver, Gas Town, Yale Town, and in the West End of Vancouver).
4. Downtown Vancouver is adjacent to the Lions Gate bridge which is a traffic nightmare most (days until 8 pm). The time it takes to drive from downtown Vancouver over the bridge is a lot less than what it takes to get back from West and North Vancouver. This is due to the fact that we have four lanes that will merge into one (two lanes from West Vancouver marine drive and two from North Vancouver marine drive)
5. The taxi industry has a poor communication mechanism with the regulatory bodies.

Almost all traffic taxi trip rejection complaints can be attributed to the above phenomena

The following is the text of the so called Taxi Bill or Rights.
As a Taxi Passenger you have the right to:

* Be picked up and transported to your stated destination by any available on duty taxi driver
* Pay the posted rate by cash, or accepted credit card or TaxiSaver voucher
* A courteous driver who provides assistance, if requested
* Travel with an assistance dog or portable mobility aid
* A taxi that is clean, smoke free and in good repair
* Direct the route, or expect the most economical route
* A quiet atmosphere, upon request
* A detailed receipt, when requested

As a Taxi Driver you must obey all laws and have the right to refuse to transport a passenger:

* To avoid contravening a law or condition of licence

* To protect your, or any passenger’s, health or safety
* If the passenger is acting in an offensive manner
* If the passenger refuses to provide a deposit, if requested

end text of so called Taxi Bill of Rights

There are some issues that need to be addressed.

1. What is the definition of an on duty taxi driver.
2. Why should the rider have unequivocal rights to direct the route. Direct the route, or expect the most economical route.

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You lose something in a taxi. Or lets be more realistic, you think you lost something in a taxi. I say think, because if you knew exactly where you lost it, you wouldn’t have lost it in the first place. When people usually lose possessions they try and retrace their footprints through the day. Somewhere along the way comes a cab ride, and it’s always a good idea to check with the cab company (and the restaurant and your friends house etc etc). A majority of lost item callers to cab companies are not even sure if it was the correct cab company they are calling to begin with, but it doesn’t hurt to try them all.

Taxi Companies get many phone calls from people trying to do exactly this; retrace their footprints through the day, in hope of finding a misplaced item. Most of these are false alarms and the said customer calls back acknowledges that the item has been found elsewhere. The items that are never found are assumed to have been lost in the taxi. Thanks to the recent malicious propaganda against Vancouver’s taxi drivers by CTV News this assumption has become even stronger.

Now there definitely are times when one has just used something, like a wallet or a phone and you know for sure that it was there a few minutes ago in the taxi.

If you were at a restaurant and left something at the table, the restaurant still has first access as they prepare the table for the next customer. In comparison, on busy nights the taxi driver is not really turning the backseat over for the next rider, who in fact has a better chance of finding any property left behind. Most cab drivers do not check the back seat after the customer. Two areas that are not visible from the driver’s vantage are the below the seats and between the door and the seat.

What the rider finds and keeps, the taxi driver knows nothing about.

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Do Cab Drivers have equal rights?

With the recent media propaganda by CTV News (and other right winged media outlets), there appears to be a strong animosity amongst riders towards taxis in Vancouver. Let me add that these are the riders that are watching more TV than taking taxis. The regular taxi customers have known for years, of the quality of service they receive, and have appreciated it.

Kevin Falcon MLA and Transportation Minister of BC was ejected from a Taxi sometime in 2007, after this started a relentless war that targeted the Vancouver Taxi Industry. CTV News in its reports appears to have sponsorship from such interests. All the coverage is during weekends, when the bars in Downtown Vancouver’s entertainment district are going crazy with over 40,000 people frequenting downtown, yaletown, gastown and West-End bars night clubs and restaurants.

CTV News does selective Reporting
The CTV News crews are present on Granville almost all Fridays and Saturday nights. Last Friday and Saturday (4th and 5th of April) night the turnout to the bars was down. The low turnout may be due to fan depression after the Cannuck’s were ousted from the Stanley Cup play offs? The CTV News crew may have not anticipated this, and were not rewarded with any cab trip refusals or drivebys something that may occur when crowds become unmanageable on Granville Street, and revelers become boisterous. No point putting out a story showing good taxi service is there! The premise is to malign.

Malign or Bust seems to be the motto of these responsible journalists.

Kevin Falcon has sponsored a Bill of Rights for riders, there is absolutely nothing in it for the taxi driver. Some say allowing the cab driver to take a deposit is an added feature. We ask the question.

• Is there a taxi legislation anywhere in the world? Including countries that have poor human rights records? Does this mean that Kevin Falcon’s so called bill or rights has gone over and beyond even these countries?
• Is there a place in Canada or USA where a cab driver cannot by law request a deposit?
• Is that any business,licensed by the government; that can refuse service but is mandated by law not to?

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