City committee approves changes to livery fees

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — If proposals approved by a city hall committee get the final green light from Calgary councilors, some significant changes could be coming to fees for taxi and ridesharing drivers.

Bylaw changes heard during the Community and Protective Services meeting on Wednesday include broad adjustments, that are aimed at providing more parity between the competitors while also furthering other initiatives. The changes were approved unanimously and will be heard at a full council meeting.

There would be some significant reductions for taxi drivers — including a nearly 50 per cent cut plate renewals and a 72 per cent reduction for plate application costs — as the industry has become more expensive in recent years, resulting in some drivers leaving taxi companies and choosing ridesharing instead. Costs for training courses would also be reduced, and similar reductions would be introduced for limo services as well.

On the other end, there will be increases for ridesharing drivers — which are identified as transportation network companies under the language of the bylaw. This would include higher fees for mechanic applications and other inspections. Slight increases are also aimed for driver license reinstatements, while overall renewals would go down by a few dollars.

The largest increase for ridesharing drivers would come for training, though, with new fees being introduced so that drivers have to pay $310 for classroom training or $95 for online training.

The changes will cost the city money, with a decrease of about $385,000 in revenues when the fees would take effect in 2022. Administration said these losses could be offset by a decrease in expenditures through other changes in the Livery Transport Services budget.

Administration also cautioned there could be worse outcomes if there is further reduction of participation in the industry due to the economic downturn or other pandemic-related issues. To assist with losses, the city also previously introduced the Livery Transport Services Sustainment Reserve to stabilize the budget.

Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley was enthusiastic about the changes, as he is hopeful this can provide some more security for the taxi industry after the boom of ridesharing in recent years.

“I didn’t feel like we needed to break the taxi system, I thought that we needed a more competitive, open, and deregulated system,” he said. “This has been one of the toughest files that we’ve seen at the city, and administration has been responsive to oftentimes unbelievably competing interests in a short period of time.”

An Uber Canada representative said the changes for classroom fees would put Calgary among the highest in fees for the company around the country, but the changes got some more support from the taxi industry although they say more still needs to be done.

“It’s not perfect,” said Kurt Enders with Checker Cab. “But the proposal does bring a balance into more perspective as to what we’ve been looking for, which is nice to see. Still a long way to go, but we are making headways which is always positive.”

Enders said there is still an “imbalance” in the market and ridesharing companies continue to have an advantage, but he has some hope.

“I’m also happy to see that the fees for industry in 2022 are being reduced by almost 50 per cent, that will provide some great help for drivers in the industry.”

The city also plans to further reduce fees in future years in the hopes of providing more equity in the market. Another plan that may be introduced to put taxis more on par with ridesharing is to allow upfront pricing options, rather than only allowing people to pay meter rates.

Jeff Garland with Associated Cab largely echoed the remarks, though he did raise concerns with a change around mechanical inspections.

“The city’s basically throwing the safety book out the door. You’ve got the mechanical fitnesses, now they want to go from having two mechanicals a year to one mechanical a year, which is going to create a huge problem for those people that travel in livery vehicles.”

He said there is a “group of people” who don’t keep cars properly maintained, and this could allow some problems to slip through the cracks. Other issues were also raised around cameras, as all taxis have cameras that monitors passengers but this is not mandatory for ridesharing vehicles.

Garland added they have seen a lot of problems in recent years, especially during the pandemic, and ridesharing has cut down on their share of the market, while in some cases providing more lucrative opportunities for drivers.

“They’re over-regulated, basically their hands are tied and they can’t do anything. So, going forward, we’re losing more and more drivers because the cost to operate just keeps going up,” he said.

The city also approached the changes with a focus on anti-racism, as drivers reported experiencing racism from passengers and this feedback will be “critical” to moving ahead with further changes to the livery industry.

“50 per cent of drivers have said they’ve experienced racism while driving,” said Ward 5 Councillor George Chahal, as he asked what else would be done.

Administration responded that they couldn’t do much to tackle it in the report at this stage, but they share concerns with this and they heard from stakeholders that the city should consider more public awareness initiatives and also improve driver training so they know how to confront these incidents when they happen. Further work will also involve the city’s anti-racism committee.

Along with that, there is a recommendation to expand the ability of drivers to charge a passenger a fee of up to $250 for soiling the interior of a taxi with food or drinks.

Other solutions being proposed to address passenger safety include setting out responsibilities for drivers, such as being professional and courteous, and taking care of any personal items that may be accidentally left behind.