Taxi companies want Winnipeg to slow the flow of new licences

Winnipeg's two largest taxi companies want the city to slowly increase the number of cabs in the Manitoba capital instead of issuing 120 new licences all at once.

Winnipeg's new vehicle-for-hire regulations call for the immediate addition of 120 taxi licences to ensure there is one cab for every 1,203 residents, down from a current ratio of one for every 1,555.

An organization representing Duffy's and Unicity wants Winnipeg to phase in the licences instead. This would allow the taxi industry to better adapt to a new regulatory environment that will also include new services such as Uber and Lyft, said Scott McFadyen of the Winnipeg Community Taxi Coalition.​​

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McFadyen plans to appear before city council's executive policy committee Wednesday morning to suggest a gradual phase-in of new taxi licences as part of a package of amendments to the city's new vehicle-for-hire regulations.

Those regulations are slated to take effect on March 1.

McFadyen said taxi companies also want services such as Uber and Lyft to be subject to the same safety rules as cabs. The proposed regulations would not require Uber or Lyft vehicles to have driver shields or cameras.​

The taxi companies also want the city to ratchet down on the fees it plans to charge cabs and increase fines for violations instead.

The city plans to cover the $1.3-million cost of regulating vehicles for hire — a task bestowed on it by the provincial government — by collecting $878,000 from the taxi industry, $378,000 from the new ride-hailing services and $22,000 in penalties. 

"Essentially what it looks like at first glance is that the fees and fares collected from taxis are going to be subsidizing the cost of enforcing Uber. From our perspective, that's just not cool," McFadyen said.

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The cab companies are also seeking a fourth amendment — they want the city to back away from its plan to prevent taxi-licence holders from transferring those licences to other entrepreneurs in 2038.

This provision will reduce the market value of a taxi licence from about $135,000 right now to roughly $90,000 as of March 1, McFadyen said.

The city counters the lengthy sunset period for taxi-licence transfers is a good compromise between the need to protect the investment of existing licence holders and the city's desire to ensure there is ample competition in the market.

"The intent is to help preserve the value of the licences that had been purchased in the past, with the long-term plan to move away from the sale of licences through external markets," city communications director Felicia Wiltshire said.

Pending approval by the executive policy committee on Wednesday, the new vehicle-for-hire regulations come before council on Dec. 13.

Duffy's Taxi and Unicity Taxi warned Wednesday morning of a possible service slowdown as they say cab drivers from both companies will be attending the executive policy committee meeting to "present our concerns about the proposed Winnipeg taxi bylaws." There were about a dozen cabbies at the meeting shortly after it started.

Several opposition councillors remain annoyed about the plan.

"Clearly, this was a massive offload on the city by the province. The city can't even fix its roads. How can it take on another file?" Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt asked on Tuesday.

"The mayor should be standing up to this, instead of rolling over for this premier."