Windsor cabbies to request rate increase amid rising expense struggles

At the end of Fadi Nizam's shift as a cab driver, he sometimes doesn't make any money. He's supporting a push to increase fare rates in Windsor, Ont., that haven't risen in six years.

After being a Vets Cab driver since 1995, that's Nizam's new reality on slow days. His expenses have increased over 30 per cent over the years, he said, making it more difficult for him to make a living.

"It used to be OK, but right now we find it a bit hard because of inflation," said Nizam, who's finding it harder than ever to pay his bills. "The business is not like before."

The surge in gas prices over the last few years is one of Nizam's biggest expenses. Last month, high oil prices meant a record-breaking shock at the pumps. Even his insurance cost is rising, spiking from $8,000 to $11,000 annually.

In Windsor, taxi fare rates — both the base cost and the rate per kilometre — are regulated by the city, unlike private ride share companies such as Uber. Cab rates haven't been changed since 2015.

'Some of the drivers are really struggling'

This week, Unifor Local 195 — which represents Vets Cab drivers — plans to submit an application for a rate increase, CBC News has learned.

"Some of the drivers are really struggling maintaining or keeping their vehicles on the road at this time," said Marwan Abouzeeni, a Vets Cab driver and third vice-president of Unifor Local 195. "So what we're trying to do is increase the price a little bit to compensate for the expense that causes every driver to keep their car on the road and keep their jobs."

In the fare increase application, Abouzeeni said they plan to keep the base rate of $3.80 the same. However, he would like to see the rate increased to 25cent per 0.180 metres from 10 cents for every 0.069 metres.

To put that into perspective, a Vets Cab ride from Windsor's airport to the train station would currently be between $17 and $20. If the proposed increase takes effect, that same ride would cost roughly $22.

"Some days you don't make any money," said Nizam. "Some days you got lucky as they say, maybe you have a trip out of town or something like that or whenever it's cold outside, business picks up a bit."

Fare cap for cabs, not Uber

In 2018, the City of Windsor reviewed its taxi bylaw as it began to license Uber drivers. Both are subject to regulations to ensure they're insured, public safety is monitored and there's a police check for drivers. But the city maintained its fare cap for drivers, but legally couldn't do the same for Uber drivers.

"The taxi industry would argue that Uber is a taxi service and transportation network companies like Uber would argue that they aren't like traditional taxi cab service, that they offer a different type of platform," said Craig Robertson, the city's licence commissioner.

"So tradition across North America and even in Europe is that they're licensed separately. No different if we're looking at a nightclub as opposed to a sit down family restaurant, essentially providing some similar services, but different when you look at the actual business model," he added.

One of the main reasons Windsor continues to regulate cab rates is to protect consumers, said Robertson.

Windsor's base fare for cabs, which sits at $3.80, is about middle of the road compared to other areas in Ontario. The lowest base rate of $3.25 can be found in Toronto, while the highest is in Sarnia at $4.59. Those are the starting fees anyone pays as soon as they hop in a cab, then it goes up in set increments depending on the distance of the trip.

Some Ont. municipalities removed taxi fare caps

However, some municipalities have removed cab fare caps altogether to foster competition and fairness for both the taxi and private transportation industries.

Chatham-Kent, Barrie, Sudbury and North Bay all do not regulate taxi rates, while London sets a minimum, but no maximum.

"We didn't want to hurt, necessarily, the taxi industry, so we wanted to put them on a fair playing ground with private transportation companies," said Nancy Havens, manager of licensing services for Chatham-Kent. "We just felt like regulating the fares wasn't something that we needed to regulate."

Havens said customers should be informed about the rates before agreeing to a ride.

Although the taxi fare increase application to the City of Windsor is set to be submitted this week, the union said it could take upwards of six months for customers to see the increase. It also requires city council's approval.

Unifor Local 195 doesn't want the city to remove the fare cap entirely, as some other regions have done, but rather increase the existing one.

"We are here to make a living not to get rich, right," said Abouzeeni. "So if I lift the cap on it and say now it's instead of $5, it'll be $10, you think that guy is going to come back to me? Never. We'd like to stay competitive, but also we don't want to take advantage of our clients, our customers."

In the meantime, Nazim said he and other cab drivers will continue to work 16 or 17-hour days to take home the same amount of money when they worked 10 hours prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"You have no choice."