Taxi Drivers Protest
- Thread starter SkyRider
- Start date
You don't blame them for their lack of innovation, and letting a competitor gain traction in the market? Or you don't blame them for taking advantage of the monopoly that they've had for years that's allowed them to ignore the concerns of their customers? Or both?
Uber X delivers first class service for the price of economy. City cabs provide economy service for first class price. Fuck city cabs, I'm never taking another.
I heard a woman talking about trying to get her child to the hospital for surgery this morning. She was late because cabs were crawling along the DVP at 5 km/h. If they're looking for public support, they just failed miserably.
I heard a woman talking about trying to get her child to the hospital for surgery this morning. She was late because cabs were crawling along the DVP at 5 km/h. If they're looking for public support, they just failed miserably.
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Im on the fence about this. On one hand these guys work 12 to 15 hours a day and barely make a living what with the fees, price of gas, and repairs. then you have people who dont pay fees and work unregulated taking business away. However sometimes you get cabs that are dirty, smelly, and rude drivers and they dont give a shit because they had a monopoly. Im all for competition as long as everyone is playing on a level field
It's their decision to drive a cab.
Most of them are middle easterners and men from the middle east look down their noses at those who do labouring work or physical work. You could offer them a job at $40.00 per hour as a construction labourer and they wouldn't take it because they view it as beneath them and they don't like to get their hands dirty.
Uber is simply another in a long line of instances where technology has altered the landscape.
Digital cameras put film companies out of business. You didn't see Kodak workers protesting the advent of digital cameras.
Cabs are going to take a hit one way or another and it's technology that is the cause of the change. Nothing more, nothing less and the one thing in this world that is constant is change.
Digital cameras put film companies out of business. You didn't see Kodak workers protesting the advent of digital cameras.
Cabs are going to take a hit one way or another and it's technology that is the cause of the change. Nothing more, nothing less and the one thing in this world that is constant is change.
S
**Sophie**
Last week a customer needed a cab so I called him one, this was in Brampton, do you know this cabby called me 3 times to ask where our business was?!! I got so pissed off; do they not have a friggin gps in their car, or a pearly at least wtf!!! I'm never calling that company again.
there is a difference
a lot of immigrants came over and went in huge debt to buy a plate then uber destroys them
put yourself in their shoes
I think the city should buy the fucking plates back
Look, the city makes huge money from those plates and some kind of guarantee should be attached to the contract , while nothing is in writing there should be a moral obligation on the part of the city, which reaps huge financial rewards from the plates and this windfall comes for free, so reimburse those that got screwed through no fault of their own
It is called doing the right thing
So if I go to university and get a degree in a certain technology that becomes obsolete in five years due to technological advances, should the university buy my degree back and give me back all of my tuition money?
bad comparison
the city arbitrarily sets extraordinary charges for a plate making huge profits then limits the plates so the price goes up and up as these plates are resold
the city offers nothing in return except a promise to limit the number of plates and then they set the taxi rates that can be charged
the key is the city charges huge for these plates then offers nothing in return and it costs the city nothing to do so
it is a straight cash grab
the city loses nothing in reimbursement as they are simple giving back what someone gave them, this is not a loss as it puts the city back in the same financial state as if the plate buying never occurred in the first place
whereas
the university built a university then hired professors to teach, you got something concrete for your tuition and it costs the university more than what they charged you, you got a deal and you chose the courses , cab plate owners got fuck all
The plates are traded like a commodity, the city does not profit when the price goes up, and should not be compensating plate owners when the price drops. http://globalnews.ca/news/1780260/toronto-taxi-licence-prices-are-plummeting-is-uber-to-blame/
Can appreciate the drivers frustrations. In the taxi business the failure is long and drawn out, and they see the people replacing them. Might be better if the city gets out of the taxi licensing business, or change for a car and driver check with no restrictions on the number of licenses issued.
Have talked with some girls about Uber, and the ones who have tried Uber say the service is much better, the drivers are friendlier and more respectful. Only down side was you need a bank card to use the service.
disagree
the city has a lot to do with the price on the open market as they control the number of plates sold
they should at least give back what the original owner of the plate gave the city
look, the city has arbitrarily gouged free monies for the plates and has given nothing in return,. The buyer of the plates should be able to turn in plate and get monies back, such fairness in cab plate buying was not part of the original purchase contract because the city has a monopoly that does not have to be fair, it is wrong of our government to be so heavy handed in its monopolistic enterprises
Your fundamental premise is incorrect.
The current price to purchase a Taxi License from the City of Toronto is less than $6,000.00 all-in.
https://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/...nnel=4f687f26e4d41410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
A secondary black market has developed as a result of the taxi industries' own efforts to limit the number of taxi plates issued by the city.
So the difference between the $6,000.00 and the $350,000/$125,000 value of the license is solely and directly a result of artificially restricted competition by limiting the number of plates issued.
And don't put too much stock in the "poor immigrant" and "cabbie's widow" stories. They are the exception, and not the rule. The majority of the plates are owned by investors some individuals but mostly single families) who bought up the plates over the years and now license them out to the truly "poor immigrant". And they nickel and dime the day to day cabbies with dispatch fees, maintenance surcharges, penalties etc. Think airlines and their surcharges! Or think of slum landlords. The plate owners only contribution to providing the public with a ride is that they rake off the first $100 of every shift... simply because they bought up plates on the black market. An
There is big money behind these plates and that big money is fighting for their investments.
Why should the taxpayers of Toronto pay a black market price for a license that they have no obligation in maintaining its value?
How has the City given "nothing in return" for the fees the City charges? The City has granted them a license to offer a service that used to be regulatable because the public needed to be protected from things that technology now protects them from. For $5,000.00.
Why should the taxi industry continue to have an artificial monopoly on a simple transportation service when more complex transportation licenses like airlines, bus companies etc are readily available for anyone who meets the license criteria?
ok
I see your point
I thought the city charged a lot more than a few grand
I assumed
changed my mind
however, I feel for the immigrants who purchased these plates from the profiteers for $200,000
as well, a lot of these plates were going to be the retirement fund for the plate owner after 30 totally wasted years of cab driving and ends up with nothing except poverty after 30 years of wasted life
they were blind sided
sad
Looks like the city was issuing these plates in the 40s and 50s. The city has long ago provided whatever serves to the original owner for whatever fee was charged for the plates at the time
This article does not give a price for the original plate, but does have some numbers for the price of resold plates.
Owner of Toronto’s oldest taxi licence tells stories from the road
