FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — City Councillors heard from Teco Taxi during Monday’s regular meeting, and the taxi company told Council their service has improved greatly since new management took over in 2012.
Manager Tag Gill, who spoke before Council along with driver Bernard Thompson, said wait times are down, and the number of Teco Taxi drivers on the road is up. The company has 31 drivers, and 19 taxi plates — all of which, Gill says, are in use.
“On average, it’s about eight minutes for a customer to receive their cab at their door, and that’s a very good statistic in comparison to many cities across the province,” he said, telling Council all the vehicles were on the road on New Year’s Eve, and customers only had to wait about 10 minutes that night — a fraction of what the wait times used to be for one of the busiest nights of the year.
However, while the business has been striving to make improvements, the company’s revenue hasn’t been reflecting those changes. Gill told Council December’s revenue was down 15 per cent year-over-year and January saw an even sharper decline of 29 per cent.
Thompson, who owns and operates Bernard’s Taxi, now drives part-time for Teco Taxi because he hasn’t been getting much business either.
“My business has been down, also.” he noted, having only taken 13 calls for service over the last weekend. “I’m only working a couple of days a week, on Fridays and Saturdays.”
Acting Mayor Dan Davies asked Thompson what the outlook was for Bernard’s Taxi, and he replied that he is hoping for the best.
Gill added that Teco Taxi has implemented a smartphone app for their taxi, which works in a way similar to Uber — a ridesharing service that calls drivers to your location at the touch of your screen.
Teco Taxi has also acquired a wheelchair-accessible taxi that has been regular used, outside of BC transit’s HandyDart.
Councillor Larry Evans asked if the company receives a subsidy from the Province for the wheelchair-accessible cab. Gill said they do not, and customers have to pay full fare for it. According to Gill, Teco Taxi is actually losing money on that vehicle, as they do not receive any outside funding for it. However, he said he has approached BC Transit about Taxi Saver programs — which provides a 50 per cent subsidy for taxis.
Councillor Evans urged Gill to explore the possibility of a subsidy from the Province through the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“The biggest problem with that, and you said it, is definitely budget consideration both on the City’s side and BC transit,” said Victor Shopland, General Manager of Integrated Services. Shopland said BC Transit is in a ‘budget freeze’ at the moment, and has little room to expand services or funding.
This presentation is ahead of the previously-scheduled public hearings for a prospective competitor looking to enter the market: Grande Prairie-based Yellow Cabs.
Those hearings have been adjourned until an unconfirmed date, having already been delayed once before.
Director of the Passenger Transportation Board Jan Broocke confirmed that Teco Taxi was the submitter who put in a request to the Board, and they ultimately decided for the hearings to be delayed ‘in the interest of administrative fairness’ following that request.
Yellow Cabs seems to remain optimistic about the delays, taking to Facebook to state, “it is delayed just by a little bit, we are still in full force to get approved regardless- the hearing is bond (sic) to happen- this is just yet another obstacle during the way!”
Though the hearings were adjourned, the City opted in the same meeting for Director of Protective Services Jim Rogers and Director of Strategic Services Moira Green to represent the City of Fort St. John when the dates are confirmed.