Those stress fractures in the solidarity of the Lower Mainland taxi brotherhood recently uncovered by Business in Vancouver points to several cab industry issues worth revisiting.
Atop that list is whether the current system of Balkanized home turf monopolies for Metro Vancouver cab companies serves the best interests of the public and local transportation efficiencies.
At the heart of BIV?s story (?YVR cab fare fight looms? – issue 1144; September 27-October 3) is Yellow Cab Co.?s BC Supreme Court civil suit against what were its fellow Lower Mainland Taxi Association members. It focuses on the competition to renew licences that allow cab companies to service the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The narrative sheds light on some nasty infighting over the renewal process.
For example, Yellow Cab charges that the association is conspiring to cut it out of the running for the lucrative airport licences and divvy them up among other association members. Losing the 62 it now has would set hair spontaneously ablaze down at Yellow Cab HQ, because, regardless of how much of the airport passenger gravy train has been coupled to the Canada Line, YVR remains a vital revenue stream for Metro Vancouver cab companies.
But aside from a squabble over airport service privileges, the lawsuit raises several other issues.
Among them: the airport?s apparent preference for awarding an exclusive YVR concession to one operator.
Variations on that ?closed? taxi system are used at a number of North American airports, including Washington-Dulles and Albuquerque International.
Others opt for open systems, which allow any cab operators to pick up and drop off airline travellers, or semi-closed systems that combine elements of both.
Each has its pros and cons.
A closed system gives airports direct control over the operations of their exclusive contractor, but it removes competition from the equation. In the long run, that?s usually bad for service. It also makes it harder for new bidders to oust incumbent contractors. Likewise not great for service.
Metro Vancouver?s taxi service is already less than optimum. Service to and from the airport is no exception.
The Yellow Cab lawsuit spells that out. In raising concerns about an association it had been a large part of since 2008, but which is now a competitor for the exclusive airport contract, the lawsuit claims that, as of January 2011, ?the Defendant Association had not resolved the issue of taxi shortages at YVR? even though it was formed three years ago to eliminate those shortages. Yellow Cab consequently expressed concerns about the association?s ?managerial competence.?
This is not sounding good for future YVR cab service.
Handing over the airport?s taxi keys to one organization, whether it represents a single local company or several, would establish the same kind of monopoly that cab companies have in their home-base municipalities elsewhere in the region.
That continues to deliver uneven service, especially in downtown Vancouver when bars close, cruise ship passengers disembark en masse and other peak demand times.
Regional taxi licensing that allows cabs to drop off and pick up fares anywhere in Metro Vancouver, regardless of where their corporate headquarters is, would eliminate geographical monopolies that create pockets of poor service and artificially inflate the value of taxi licences.
It would also improve service to and from major transportation hubs like YVR. ?
