More cabs, cheaper plates will cripple taxi industry, say some drivers
Putting more cabs on the street and preventing taxi drivers from selling the right to operate a cab will cripple the industry, some drivers say.
“The quality of the drivers will go, the quality of the vehicles will go, ultimately the city will see that customer service is suffering,” said Jasbir Gill, president of the Edmonton Taxi Association.
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The number of taxi plates — the permit required to operate a taxi — is capped in Edmonton at 1,319.
Plate-holders who leave the business are allowed to sell their plate instead of returning it to the city.
That resale value is now around $200,000, significantly more than the city’s original $400 fee.
Owners see the plate as their retirement investment and are not eager for the city to prevent issue more plates or ban their resale.
Too few cabs on weekends, winter
However, complaints about numbers of taxis especially on Friday and Saturdays and during the winter have created demand that ride-share app Uber is hoping to take advantage of.
As a new immigrant, Gill saved his money and took out a loan to buy his taxi plate for $50,000 in 2006.
The “one plate, one driver, one car” approach would not only make his taxi plate worthless, but also cripple the industry and make it difficult for him to make a living, he said.
The policy would flood the market with competition, and without the ability to rent out licensed cabs each driver would need their own cars, he said.
However, plate owners account for less than half of the number of cab drivers in Edmonton and many of those who who do not have a taxi plate would like to see them devalued.
Getnet Muchie has rented a plate from Yellowcab for almost two years at a cost of $475 per week. He has to work seven days a week, just to afford the cost of working, he said.
“The longer time I work, I get tired. That’s not good for safety for the passenger or for myself,” he said.
Muchie hopes the city changes the rules so he can buy an affordable plate from the city.
Grey market needs to be fixed
Coun. Andrew Knack wants to make the plates non-transferable, which is a condition placed on plates issued in 2012. He sees the secondary market as a problem that needs to be fixed.
“We intentionally or unintentionally created sort of a grey market once the plates were frozen back in the day,” he said.
“So, let’s have learned, hopefully learned from that mistake and adjust as we go forward.”
In Toronto, councillors voted to make taxi plates non-transferable in February 2014. The idea will be phased in over 10 years, but already drivers say their plates are losing value.
Toronto taxi brokers claimed at the time the change put the public at risk, as plate owners would not be able to rent out their cabs for extra cash.
“The only real way a driver will be able to increase his earnings will be to drive longer hours, leading to unsafe conditions for taxi drivers and for passengers,” said Gail Souter, president of Beck Taxi.
Edmonton city council wants to revise the Vehicle for Hire bylaw to regulate Uber and improve service for Edmontonians.
On Tuesday, councillors asked Uber to cease operations in Edmonton until new regulations are drafted.
If Uber doesn’t comply, the city plans to file an injunction against the company.
Uber drivers were still picking up fares on Wednesday.
Knack says it may take a couple of days for the city’s legal department to send a formal request to the company.
The city plans to discuss the bylaw changes again this fall.