Toronto anti-Uber protest - These TO taxi drivers are #@$%!!!!

One of my big beefs with taxies in Toronto is that a lot of times they don't want the fare.

I was staying at the Marriott Trinity Square and needed to get to the Bell Canada office at 76 Richmond and it was pouring rain. There were 2 taxies sitting outside but both refused as its too short. I guess they were waiting on that big fare to the Airport.

I've been using Uber a lot in Toronto lately. I just find the cars are a little more upmarket, newer, cleaner, and they feel safer and better maintained. The last time I was there I got a Tesla from the CTV offices across from Scarborough Town to the airport. The guy even had a bottled water. It was more like a car service. It was a very pleasant experience and no fumbling for change to pay the guy at the end of the ride.
 
1) Has anyone done a pie chart showing where the money from the $25.00 cab fare went?

2) Are the cabbies better or worse off than the long distance truckers that have been deregulated? According to a trucker friend he gets $0.42 per mile. If he averages 50 miles per hour he is making $21.00 per hour but he doesn't get paid for waiting time, offloading etc. Lots of time he doesn't average 50 MPH.

The only way he makes extra is that he works more than an eight hour day but the lifestyle sucks IMO. Cabbies get to go home to their families at night.

To me driving a cab is a stepping stone for people getting started. Make a pitiful income while you work on your education, language skills and hygiene.
 
Taxi driver who harassed the Uber driver drives for UberBlack. Or he did up until last week.

This week he doesn't tho...



Holy **** you can't make this up.

It's golden. Cabbies are NOT doing themselves any favours acting like this.
 
j2 said:
I love the sign the cabbie is holding up that reads "Public Safety Priority #1" That's so ironic.

I've had 2 really close calls this year, both with cabbies driving Beck Taxi cars and making U turns right across traffic from the inside lane. They may want to take that sentiment to heart and start practising it
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One of my friends at work got hit by a cab doing a u turn and he was on his bicycle. Ended up in the hospital.

And as motorcycle riders, i think one of the things we fear most specially downtown are cabs and their irratic driving behaviour.
 
Delboy said:
I've been using Uber a lot in Toronto lately. I just find the cars are a little more upmarket, newer, cleaner, and they feel safer and better maintained.
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But think of what your missing. The stained seats with who knows what on them, the obligatory failed rear wheel bearing rubbing so loud that you cant make a phone call, the screams at other road users. It's all part of a rich colourful experience
 
ashkan said:
One of my friends at work got hit by a cab doing a u turn and he was on his bicycle. Ended up in the hospital.

And as motorcycle riders, i think one of the things we fear most specially downtown are cabs and their irratic driving behaviour.
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Yes. Safety is not a high priority. I worked with a guy who got hit on his motorcycle by a taxi making a u turn on the Danforth. He was paralized from the chest down. He ended up coming back to work but only for 2 days a week and all he could do was some data entry, but he just needed to get out of the house
 
LiNK666 said:
How bad are the cab fees? $648 https://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/...nnel=4f687f26e4d41410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

What's the insurance rate for a cabbie? $2k to $3k more than a regular driver? If you take the extra insurance and fees and divide it over the year with amount of rides they give it should be minimal per ride, but they charge 40% more than uber.

They are being bullies and the physical threat of violence is insane. These guys should be charged.
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I have an insurance policy that would allow me to drive for Uber legally. It doesn't cost that much...
Your estimate isn't far off.
 
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All these butthurt cabbies should just quit, and sign up with Uber. Problems solved no?
Cabs are stupid expensive. I once took one to work from home (9.8km) and it cost me nearly $20.
Tried Uber once for the same distance and the guy charged me $8.
 
This is a technology issue as much as anything.

If BECK or whoever, had a proper rating system for their own drivers like UBER does, maybe people would be more receptive? with the assumption that the cab and driver don't look like they've been through a war zone every time they come and pick you up.

It boils down to customer service. People will pay if they're getting value. Right now, the traditional cab service doesn't bring the value that Uber does. Either change or die. There is no going backwards.
 
nfq said:
If BECK or whoever, had a proper rating system for their own drivers like UBER does, maybe people would be more receptive?
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And maybe the drivers would care to actually behave in a professional fashion at the same time. I agree.

The taxi industry as we know it is going to die a slow death over this, and arguably, it should. The plate owners sit at home rubbing their hands together watching the $$$ roll in on the backs of drivers who are making a few dollars an hour on average working 12+ hour days while being the ones doing all the actual work.

My cousin drove taxi for a few months and I heard all about it. They basically rent the taxi itself for the day off the plate owner/company, they are at the whim of the dispatchers, they are sometimes sent for long distances to get fares (gas $$$) that sometimes barely cover the cost of the gas they burned to get there, and then if they find themselves in a crappy position they burn more gas to get somewhere better...which is often stacked full of other drivers who are also waiting for fares. At the end of the night they have to fill the tank again and pay for a car wash before they hand the cab back to the next driver. If he was so lucky as to have a drunk who barfed in his car, guess what...his job to clean it up.

There was lots of nights where he said he only made $20-$50 for a whole nights work.

Yes, there was good nights too, but the average didn't work out very good in the end.

Comparatively, the Uber system seems stacked in the drivers favor vs the company/plate owners favor, and with better customer service, vehicles, and prices (except during surges) it's unsurprising they're doing well.
 
nfq said:
This is a technology issue as much as anything.

If BECK or whoever, had a proper rating system for their own drivers like UBER does, maybe people would be more receptive? with the assumption that the cab and driver don't look like they've been through a war zone every time they come and pick you up.

It boils down to customer service. People will pay if they're getting value. Right now, the traditional cab service doesn't bring the value that Uber does. Either change or die. There is no going backwards.
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While customer service is important and i agree with you on that, for me personally, paying half the price is the main thing. Since Uber, i can say without exaggeration my use of taxi (i mean uber vs traditional cabs) has gone up 10 fold. And a huge part of it is price.

In so many situations that i would never call a cab simply because they were too expensive, i now use Uber very often.

For example, i live in Mississaus and work downtown. I would very rarely cab it to work/back but since itd cost around $160 both ways but since Uber, ive been doing it on average once a week if not more.

Paying $40 (one way) makes sense to me since it costs the driver $5-10 in gas and the rest is his an it takes him 25-35 minutes to get there. So he makes around $25-30 in one hour (or $50-60 if he picks up a passenger on his way back but even $30 isnt bad money for one hour even when you take his car maintenance into consideration). Where as the traditional cab used to cost me $80 one way and for what? Im paying $80 for a 35 minute service? I better be getting a massage in the back from a very hot chick lol
 
PrivatePilot said:
Comparatively, the Uber system seems stacked in the drivers favor vs the company/plate owners favor, and with better customer service, vehicles, and prices (except during surges) it's unsurprising they're doing well.
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Uber's all ducky now because new. I'm sure they floss and do stretching exercises before every shift. Once they're entrenched it won't take long before the money changers swoop in. Name an industry where that hasn't happened. I can just see it now "Ontario College of Professional Wheelmen" $2000 membership per annum to self regulate the industry, keep out new Ubers and to protect public/save children.
 
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I'm surprised no one raged out and ran them over. Maybe next protest.
 
klr_guy said:
"I might talk to my lawyer, I don't know," he said. "I thought the gentleman was going to stop. I tried to talk to him politely."

Delusional.
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"What video??"

LOL
 
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