I spent a bit of time this morning writing to most of the candidates for our upcoming Mayoral election to find out their stand on the one issue I have with the city...public transportation - mainly the taxi industry and lack of cabs in the city. In doing so I stumbled on an old sore spot with me - Donna Martyn.
Donna Martyn is a citizen of my city who happens to be in a wheelchair....no big deal, I'm sorry for her bad luck, but it shouldn't really be of interest to me. But Donna Martyn entered my scope of knowledge when she successfully sued the city and three cab companies for better service for wheelchair bound people. The story goes like this.
One day, Donna phones one of the cab companies. She is told that no wheelchair accessible cabs are available for her right now, and she would have to wait for up to three hours for one to come. She was also told about the wheelchair accessible cab's phone-ahead program, where handicapped people are encouraged to phone a couple of days ahead and book a cab for their trip ahead of time. Well, this was not good enough for Donna. She didn't understand why she shouldn't be able to just pick up the phone and order a cab, like any other citizen. So she went ahead and started a Human Rights lawsuit, saying that not being able to get a cab on demand was against her Human Rights as a handicapped person. She sued the city for not making sure cab companies had enough wheelchair accessible cabs, and she sued three cab companies that didn't have enough wheelchair accessible cabs for her liking. And she won. Because of her lawsuit, 40 wheelchair accessible cabs were added to the three major cab companies.
Now, maybe Donna is right, and she should be able to just pick up the phone and have a cab to her door in 20 minutes. But my point is....I can't get a cab in 20 minutes in this city! I know someone who was trying to get a cab home from a grocery store on a random Thursday, 4pm, and couldn't get one. And anyone who has been to the major drinking spots knows that when the bars close for the night, you're on your own. Phoning a cab company, if you can even get through, will result in being told there is no cabs available in that area, and you should try to flag one as best you can. Wait, isn't that what our friend Donna was told? No cabs were available? So why can't I get anyone at city hall or any of the cab companies to listen to MY complaint? It's the same as Donna's. It's because I'm not in a wheelchair, I guess.
So why isn't the Human Rights Commission for the everyday person? Why do you have to be wheelchair bound, blind, an ethnic minority, muslim, or all of the above for them to take your case? Maybe I should sue the Human Rights Commission because it's against my human rights that I get overlooked because I don't travel on wheels.
I guess this kind of relates to my post from yesterday, where I was so shocked to learn that a single man may have changed the location of the ground zero mosque by threatening to burn the koran. I was so surprised by his success because in this city, unless you are already in a minority or small interest group of some kind, you are completely ignored. I know it's not only my city. I don't understand how we came to be this way as a society. Of course, I don't understand alot about society....
For interest's sake, one of the candidates asked me exactly what my concern was. Here's my reply to him:
Hi Daryl,
The issue is, plain and simple, there are not enough cabs in this city.
The number of plates for cabs has been frozen for well over ten years. That means no new cabs. Two things are wrong with this. First, the formula used to calculate how many cabs are necessary is used by almost every city in the world – it’s an antiquated formula and alot of those cities are under different circumstances than Edmonton. They have better public transport, more condensed work areas, not so much urban sprawl. Every city is different, and it’s hard to understand how a blanket formula can be used. Second, the city has grown so much. With the oil boom, how much has the city’s population grown in the last ten years? According to Edmonton.ca, between 2001 and 2008, the population grew by almost 200,000. It seems odd that this doesn’t mean more cabs are allowed to run.
And so I ask, why aren’t more cabs allowed to run? A study paid for by the city was done about two years ago, and concluded that the city was in desperate need of more cabs. In answer to that study, only 40 wheelchair accessible cabs were added. No problem there, handicapped need cabs too. But are these cabs taking normal trips, doing the bar runs, etc., or are they spending all their time dealing with handicapped? If yes, then basically no cabs were added. That does nothing to appease everyone else who needs a cab. I am not talking about Friday and Saturday nights on Whyte Ave. I am talking about my mother picking up groceries on a Thursday at 4 pm and having to wait 50 minutes for a cab. On a random Thursday. But, while we are mentioning Whyte Ave, I will point out that it’s the lack of cabs that is leading to all the problems there. When the bars close at 2am and all the drinkers are poured into the streets, they couldn’t clear the area even if they wanted to, because there are no cabs. If there were cabs, all the drunks would happily go home to nurse their well-earned hangovers. A few months ago I read an article that said drunk driving had spiked in the city. Guess why? No cabs. I know people who drive after a few too many because they can not get a cab.
But I am getting off topic – the question was, why aren’t more cabs allowed to run? Why aren’t more licenses released? When our current Mayor was asked this question, he said, basically, that he defers to the wisdom of the Taxi Commission. It’s their job to know the issue, they have studied it, and that’s why they exist. It was the Taxi Commission who okay’d only 40 wheelchair licenses. You see, there is an urban myth that taxi drivers are all broke immigrants who make no money. StatsCan says the average income for a taxi driver is around $18,000 a year. The Taxi Commission bases its decisions on this myth and claims taxi drivers are broke, and so will not allow more cabs to be added. Well, I say this reported annual income is a myth because I have worked in the taxi industry and I have driven a taxi. I KNOW how much drivers really make, how they under report their income to Revenue Canada. I have attended driver meetings where new drivers are given instructions on how to report their income, and have seen them being told that they have to do it to maintain the status quo. That if even one driver does not do it, the system will be ruined for everyone. My best day as a driver, I earned $320. Now that was not every day, I admit to that. But the Taxi Commission claiming it can’t add more cars because the drivers don’t make enough is a farce that anyone who has worked in the taxi knows, plain and simple.
I say to you that the Taxi commission is corrupt and caters too much to the drivers. This commission was originally put in place as a citizen’s group that addressed the public’s interest in Edmonton’s taxi industry. If it was still this way, there would be more cabs on the streets, no doubt, because not a single person denies there is a need for more cabs. But it’s not this way anymore. It’s now populated by people put there by the city’s taxi companies and taxi drivers, and has lost the point of its existence. It no longer sees to the best interests of the public, but rather it sees to the best interests of the taxi driver.
I say to you that the Mayor is terrified of both the drivers and the Taxi Commission. If he dares say or do anything against their wishes, they lead the drivers into a strike or a one day demonstration that sees lines of cabs blocking roads and causing traffic to snarl. Instead of standing up to them and pulling or suspending the license of any driver who is involved in such instances, which is what he should do, he backs down and caters to them. If the necessity of more cabs is going to be met in this city, the Mayor has to stand up to the Taxi commission.
I want to know if you, as Mayor, are going to be able to do that, so that more cabs can be added, which will help with other issues in the city, such as Whyte Avenue hooliganism.
I hope I haven’t taken too much of your time, this got away from me a little bit, lol. You must be very busy, so I appreciate your response and hope you take this letter for how it’s meant; a concerned citizen who doesn’t want her mother to wait in a snowstorm for 50 minutes with a cart full of groceries.
Ha, I'm afraid this makes me come across as a crazy person! What do you think? Do I come across as a raving lunatic? Or an informed, concerned citizen?
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