Taxi licence lottery sign-up session draws hundreds

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This article was published 29/01/2018 (3129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drivers, and would-be drivers, swarmed a city employee Monday afternoon at the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre, their frenzied hands grabbing at a stack of applications for the city’s upcoming taxicab licence lottery.

The lottery will result in 60 new taxicab licences (effective March 1) being doled out as the City of Winnipeg takes over the bulk of the job of regulating the taxi industry from the province. Who gets those licences – in addition to 60 more set to be rolled out at year’s end – will come down to little more than luck of the draw.

Before those in attendance Monday jumped from their seats and surged forward to get their hands on an application, Colin Stewart, policy analyst with the Winnipeg Parking Authority, gave a presentation on the upcoming lottery.

“Council instructed us to issue 60 licences, effective the first of March, then another 60 effective December, of the 120 that basically replace the seasonal licences the province used to issue every winter,” Stewart said.

“So this information session is to explain how that process is going to work and what the requirements are going to be if you’re one of those who wins that lottery and gets one of the licences.”

Of the hundreds who packed the community centre for the presentation, most seemed to be current taxi drivers. However, those without prior experience are also eligible.

Row upon row of fold-out chairs were quickly taken as the room filled up. Those unable to grab a seat stood huddled together in small groups at the back of the room. The sound of people talking hurriedly among themselves filled the air before the presentation got underway.

Abraham Abraha, who works for Duffy’s Taxi and has driven a cab for the past two years, was hoping to hear he’d be eligible to enter the lottery. He doesn’t own a taxi licence, and said he has to rent one every night he drives – an arrangement that cuts into his take-home pay.

“If I can get my own licence, why not? I’m renting right now. To get my own, I don’t know how to say, it would be good. Because right now, I’m paying $100 every night to rent,” Abraha said.

“So if I only make $150 in a night, I pay $100 for the rent. Then, on a 12-hour shift, I’m only making $50. But if I got my own, not only would I make the $100 more, but I could even do extra hours.”

Of the 1,600 taxi drivers in Winnipeg, only 600 own a taxi licence, Stewart said.

That means the remaining 1,000, or anyone else interested in driving a cab, can throw their hat in the ring for the upcoming lottery.

A November 2017 report by Meyers Norris Penny shows Winnipeg has the lowest number of taxis available per capita (one cab per 1,155 people) when compared to other Canadian cities.

As the sign-up list for the presentation quickly filled up, it became clear more people were interested than the 200-person capacity of the community centre. The city was forced to organize another information session Feb. 5 at the Garden City Community Centre to deal with the overflow.

After the initial session focused on the licence lottery, a separate presentation was given on dispatcher licences and requirements.

“Under the province of Manitoba, dispatch companies – Duffy’s and Unicity are the most known – are not regulated. Under the new vehicle-for-hire bylaw, dispatch companies will have to be registered with the City of Winnipeg and all drivers will have to be registered with a dispatch company,” Stewart said.

After the presentation was finished, people lined the side of the room, waiting to step to the microphone and pose questions.

However, before the question-and-answer period finished, a city employee began handing out applications for the lottery. People immediately left their seats, surrounding the employee. In the midst of the frenzy, city officials tried to reassure the crowd the forms were also available online.

As people began trickling out of the community centre, many with applications in hand, Cameron Sadeq stopped to give a reporter his opinion on recent changes to the industry.

Sadeq, who has driven a cab for more than five years, thinks new licences will be a good thing for Winnipeggers.

“Change is always good. We really do need more vehicles. So I think it will be something good for the city. But, really, no one knows. How is it going to work? What is going to happen to the taxi industry? The changes are coming, but what it means nobody knows,” Sadeq said.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe