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Customer prefers limos To the editor, I am not a taxi driver. I picked up a copy of your paper when I was in the city licensing office to get a renovator's license. I found the paper interesting and informative, and well written to boot. It's good to see there is a strong advocate for drivers in our city. However, on at least one subject, perhaps a perspective from a user of cabs might be in order. There was an article about getting back the airport service which, from your point of view, was illegitimately taken away from you. I have no opinion about the "Fairness" of the arrangement for the cabbies, but as someone who goes to the airport a few times a year, I have two comments. First, I prefer calling an airport limousine because, for essentially the same price, I get a vehicle that is far cleaner and in far better condition, and a driver who has a far more professional demeanour. Second, what this city really needs is to get with every other major metropolitan area in allowing "super shuttle" type cabs. (These are small vans that pick up a few passengers in one run, tailoring the route of each run to fit the passengers.) From the point of view of the consumer, this provides travel nearly as quick as a dedicated car, but at a considerably lower price. Continue your strong advocacy for cabbies, but remember that it's the passenger whom the system is ultimately supposed to serve. Regards,
Another point of view To the editor, (Editor’s note: The following letter was written by Peter Pellier, a Mississauga cab owner.) With the Toronto taxi industry in an uproar over the Airport exemption, a look at the background that led to the present brouhaha proves instructive. Let the record show that when Airport permits were originally issued in 1978, Toronto owners demonstrated little enthusiasm. Let the record also show that the system put in place, to this day, remains both fair and effective. When the Air Terminal Transport exclusive concession agreement with the federal government terminated, the Airport became fair game for any driver operating an Ontario-licensed cab. Drivers parked in the metered lot adjacent to the old Terminal 1, and openly solicited fares at the various Arrivals’ carousels. Providing such solicitations were neither pressing nor persistent, enforcement officials refrained from intervening. Predictably, all this unregulated activity led to abuse by aggressive and greedy drivers, precipitating installation of the spitter system in the early 1970’s. Located outside the former Administration building, the spitter lane, likewise, was open to all cabs. As taxis were needed at the Terminal platform, a light flashed, signaling the lead car to pay the fee, (under a dollar), and head inside for the fare. All trips were via the meter. It is worth noting that, during this nascent period, the majority of cabs working the spitter hailed from Mississauga. Given that business in T.O. was lucrative, Toronto operators, for the most part, refrained from hanging around the Airport, content to deadhead back. With variations in municipal tariffs, frequent flyers had just cause for complaining about fluctuations in the amount they were charged for the same trip. Another inherent problem arose from the voluntary nature of the spitter system. Reliable service could not be guaranteed. Pressure mounted to come up with a more regulated, reliable and uniform ground transportation service at the Airport. Finally, in early 1974, A.T.C. McNab, Ontario’s Deputy-Minister of Transportation and Communications, and chair of the Toronto Area Transit Operating Authority, approached the federal Department of Transport with a view to issue special permits to cab owners, “in an attempt to end chaotic conditions that have existed for years.” McNab’s proposal had the full backing of Metro Chair Paul Godfrey, and Region of Peel Chair Lou Parsons, two extremely powerful political players. Under McNab’s initiative, arrangements were made with the Ontario Highway Transport Board to process applications submitted by interested cab owners. It mattered not where in Ontario the cab was licensed. Again, it is worth noting, owners from Toronto exhibited little interest. Of the initial 295 cabs who received GACOR permits in 1978, 150 were from Mississauga, while only 69 were licensed in Toronto – further evidence drivers in Toronto earned sufficient money to deem the Airport extraneous. For the Airport cabs to operate profitably, access was needed to return business. To ensure a two-way service, an exemption to the Municipal Act, granting Airport operators pick-up rights in any Ontario municipality, was passed. If the exemption was so thoroughly repugnant to the Toronto industry, surely that was the time to launch a court challenge. In June, 1990, a Task Force was appointed by the Minister of Municipal Affairs “to determine whether the current system of taxi and limousine licensing, as it relates to service to and from Pearson, is fair, efficient, and effective from the point of view of the travelling public, and the taxi and limousine industries of the various municipalities.” Chairing the Task Force was David W. Bartlett, a former federal public servant and municipal politician. Notwithstanding concerns expressed by members of the Toronto taxi industry, the Task Force concluded: (a) the current system of licensing as it relates to service to and from Pearson, is fair, efficient and effective from the point of view of travelling public, and the taxi and limousine industries, and that consequently, (b) it would not be in the public interest to repeal or amend Section 227, paragraphs 1(a) and (b) of the Municipal Act, (the Airport exemption). What better testimonial to the efficacy of the Airport permit system than one written by an independent task force. On 19 December, 1996, the Municipal Act was further amended to expand the exemption so it applied whether the Airport was owned and operated by the Crown, and the cab bore a GACOR permit, or the Airport was operated by a corporation, and the cab bore a permit or license issued by the designated Airport authority. In a letter to the Metro Licensing Commission from Amanda Ross, Special Assistant to the MLC General Manager, dated 17 February, 1997, Ms Ross, responding to concerns over whether transferring GACOR permits to GTAA permits enabled Metro Toronto to prosecute for “illegal pick-ups in Metro by non-Toronto permit holders”, offered the following: “The transfer of operative control of the Airport to the GTAA……has rendered GACOR permits inapplicable to the Airport. Given that the GTAA anticipates that its own ground transportation will soon be in place, there is, in effect, no legislative gap that would permit prosecutions of non-Metro cabs that pick up in Metro. Furthermore, the GTAA is currently honouring GACOR permits until its own regulation is in place.” Amanda Ross merely corroborated the legality of the Airport exemption during and after the transition when control by Transport Canada shifted to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. At no time did she recommend its removal. What kneecapped the Toronto taxi industry was not the Airport exemption, but rather the 1998 cab reforms, following closely, as they did, on the heels of a pernicious recession. Bolstered by a series of damning articles appearing in the Toronto Star, Councillors Moscoe and Minnan-Wong convinced their colleagues to support the issuance of non-transferable Ambassador permits. It is doubtful whether any of the 1403 Ambassador cabs were actually needed. What they did ensure was an oversupply of cabs plying the streets. With frustration comes anger. Airport cabs and limos became easy targets for industry outrage, even though the real culprit was City Hall. At this late date, to clamour for removal of the exemption is tantamount to closing the barn door long after the horses have bolted. The Bartlett Report nailed it 18 years ago. Indeed, the Airport exemption is ‘fair, efficient and effective.’ Expecting the courts to turn back the clock and rewrite 30 years of history is completely untenable. Peter Pellier
Tips on pumping gas To the editor, (Editor’s note: The following is a letter passed along by a friend of Taxi News.) I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline but here in California we are paying up to $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. My line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. To have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do. I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000 ) and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would it take? (Thanks to James Kelley)
Plans for Kipling stand look good To the editor, Good news from the Western Front ( Taxi Stand Front, that is). On Thursday June 19, 2008, Mr. Stephen Hozack of the I.C.O.C.I. and I attended a T.T.C. Open House concerning the proposed improvements to the Kipling Subway station, which in turn will be part of the new Kipling Inter-Regional Terminal. At this open house, we were both expecting to only see the plans for the small four vehicle taxi stand at the proposed east entrance. We were told at the last Open House of April 22, that the T.T.C.'s involvement in the main west entrance had been reduced, and that GO Transit (of the provincial government), would be the main designer of the Kipling terminal. This would probably delay the overall design, and in turn the final design for the much larger taxi stand at the west entrance. We were pleasantly surprised to say the least, when we discovered display boards showing the small east side taxi stand was accompanied by our plans for the larger taxi stand at the west entrance that we had submitted design revisions for. Our suggested taxi stand design improvements were initially submitted this past January to the T.T.C. Project Manager, and were resubmitted to GO Transit and Mississauga Transit this past April. We were told by open house staff that had participated in a recent design meeting, that our "Plan B" design had been accepted as we had submitted it. This plan would increase the size of the taxi stand at the west entrance of Kipling from the T.T.C. proposed plan for 12 vehicles up to our proposed size of 17 vehicles. This was very good news. Unfortunately, our much larger "Plan A" taxi stand (Standzilla) could not be accepted because of safety concerns with a nearby T.T.C. electric sub- station. Fair enough - nobody wants to be zapped by a transformer. As for the seemingly good news of our accepted stand, we asked the same staff a second time to confirm this information - of which they both did. To put this news into perspective, keep in mind the following: The current Kipling taxi stand is only 5 vehicles (legally). After a last minute "Public Request" in December, the T.T.C. responded in January with an encouraging first design of the Kipling and lslington Taxi Stands taxi industry on their initial designs. By accepting our Taxi Stand design (they said they believe this to be final), the overall capacity will go from 16 taxis (12 at the west entrance and 4 at the east), up to 21 taxis (17 at the west entrance, and 4 at the east) If the planners stick to this final design (they said they believe this to be final), then this is excellent news for the taxis as well as the public. Once completed, 21 taxis will be able to park and serve the public legally without being subject to the threat of parking tickets, especially the possibility of $130.00 illegal taxi stand tickets. Thanks to the 331 Taxi industry drivers, owners, brokerage staff and customers who supported the taxi stand Public Request of this past December; and thanks to those municipal, provincial and federal politicians as well as Licensing and T.T.C. staff who took an interest in this issue or acknowledged our concerns. Hopefully, taxi industry members will keep up their active interest on the issue of taxi stands, especially since the City is on record as to seeking input from the industry on future stands. Remember: One less place for a taxi is one more potential parking ticket from the City. Yours truly,
New cab website To the editor, Check out the NEW Chicago Cabdriver Organization (CCO) website!!! Let's start the independent online conversation about the problems we share and START SOLVING THEM TOGETHER!!! Read what others are posting and post a message or reply of your own. The site is: http://cco1.bravehost.com. Please forward this to all of your cab driving contacts so they can join in the discussion too!!! This will be only the first of many important references and handy links. Please let me know what you need from me or if you have any helpful suggestions. Thanks!!! Mike Foulks, | ||||||
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