Taxi Advisory Committee

Comité consultatif sur les taxis

Minutes 22

Procès-verbal 22

Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 10:00 a.m.

le mardi, 19 septembre 2006, 10 h

Colonel By Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West

Salle Colonel By, 110, avenue Laurier ouest

Present / Présents : D. Dunlop (Chair/Président), M. McDermott (Vice-Chair/Vice-président),

D. Bhumbrah, A. Singh Dhami, J. Gauthier, D. Glastonbury, E. Karam, I. Khaddage, M. Rahman, M.-A. Way

Councillor / Conseillère D. Deans (non-voting member)

Absent / Absents: J. Markham (Regrets / excuses)

A. Madi

Councillor / Conseiller E. El-Chantiry (non-voting member)

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

DÉCLARATIONS D’INTÉRÊT

No declarations of interest were filed.

Confirmation of minutes

ratification dU procÈs-verbaL

Minutes 21 of the Taxi Advisory Committee meeting of 27 June 2006 were confirmed.

items of business/

points À l’ordre du jour

1. rogue taxis – subcomittee update

CHAUFFEURS DE TAXI MALHOnnêtes - MISE À JOUR DU SOUS-COMITÉ

Chair Dunlop advised that Susan Jones, Director of Bylaw Services was away on business and that the sub-committee would meet with her on her return.

2. STARS OF THE CITY - UPDATE

LES VEDETTES DE LA VILLE - MISE À JOUR

Chair Dunlop informed that the City of Ottawa has advanced $5000 to the Ottawa Tourism Industry for participation in the program. The industry is now looking for sponsors to help repay that cost.

3. NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECT EXTENSION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA - UPDATE

PROJET DU TRONÇON NORD‑SUD DU TRAIN LÉGER PROLONGEMENT VERS L’UNIVERSITÉ D’OTTAWA - MISE À JOUR

Chair Dunlop conveyed that he had attended a meeting in August, on behalf of the TAC, about the LRT project, specifically the extension to the Ottawa University. He had questioned whether there would be taxi stands located at major LRT stations and was advised that staff will take into consideration the role of taxis as part of the City’s public transportation system as the project moves forward.

4. RIDEAU STREET TAXI STAND - UPDATE

ÉTUDE SUR LES TAXIS DE LA RUE RIDEAU - MISE À JOUR

Phil Edens, Specialist, Traffic Assessment, Public Works and Services gave a brief progress update, noting that construction is virtually complete. He informed there will be six spaces on Rideau, a five- or six-vehicle taxi stand on Daly (in front of Arts Court), a two-vehicle stand on Nicholas (immediately south of Rideau), one on Cumberland (north of Rideau) and two spaces on the west side, near George Street.

Mr. Edens also spoke about an issue with the taxi stand in front of the Bare Fax establishment. He noted that an informal agreement was put in place some time ago to allow 4-5 taxis to park there, between the fire hydrant and the driveway, but the City has received complaints that more taxis are parking there than allowed and are causing some traffic problems. Enforcement will be stepped up for non-compliance and staff have been notified that if the problem continues, all taxi parking privileges may be withdrawn. Some members felt there should be more taxi spots allowed there, and Mr. Edens informed that staff is talking with the Market’s management to rationalize an additional stand and parking spots, but even the informal agreement could be nullified if compliance is not achieved in the meantime. In response to Member Way’s comment that he would approach the drivers and see if he could get the message across, Mr. Edens said he would forward the e-mail he had received about complaints for distribution to the drivers.

Bill McConville, a driver for D.J.’s Taxi suggested that the complaints are coming from the people driving the gypsy cabs that are picking up Bare Fax customers. He wondered if this could be checked out. He also stated that although there are often more than 4-5 taxis there at one time, the drivers actually are helping people that are backing out of the parking spaces. He stated there could be up to 45 cabs through that space in an hour because it’s a very busy spot that is continually moving. He asked staff to determine how many taxis are actually needed there and if any of the ones present now are actually in the way. Chair Dunlop asked if Mr. McConville would join the Rogue Taxi sub-committee, to which he agreed.

Reserve member, Paul Bendus, discussed taxi stand issues at Hurman station and suggested to brokers to consider a direct line at Hurdman. Chair Dunlop suggested this would be better raised at the next Taxi Stand Sub-committee meeting on October 17^th, to which Mr. Bendus agreed.

Action 1: The Committee Coordinator will forward Mr. McConville’s contact information to Susan Jones, Director of Bylaw Services.

5. 2006 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2007 WORKPLAN - DISCUSSION

LE RAPPORT ANNUEL DE 2006 ET LE PLAN DE TRAVAIL DE 2007 - DISCUSSION

Chair Dunlop and Vice-Chair McDermott will work on the annual report and next year’s workplan and bring a draft back to the committee for approval. Members are asked to forward any suggestions to the Chair.

Action: The Committee Coordinator will add this item to the agenda for approval when submitted by the Chair.

6. LETTER FROM TAXI ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO CITY OF OTTAWA RE TAXI SCRIPT PILOT PROJECT, AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE EXTRACT OF MINUTES, AND COUNCIL DISPOSITION, 16 AND 23 AUGUST 2006 RE ACCESSIBLE TRANSIT IN OTTAWA FOR SENIORS AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

leTTRE DU COMITÉ CONSULTATIF SUR LES TAXIS À LA VILLE D’oTTAWA CONCERNANT LE PROJET PILOTE relatif à la participation des TAXIS, ET EXTRAIT DU PROCÈS-VERBAL DU COMITÉ DES TRANSPORTS ET DE LA MOTION DU CONSEIL, EN DATE DU 16 ET 23 AOÛT 2006 CONCERNANT LE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN ACCESSIBLE POUR LES AÎNÉS ET LES PERSONNES HANDICAPÉES À OTTAWA

The committee received the above-noted documents.

7. Driver Service - TAC Discussion

SERVICE AUX CHAUFEURS - DISCUSSION DU CCT

Dr. Paul Cappon, CEO, Canadian Council on Learning stated that taxi drivers in Ottawa exhibit extremely aggressive behaviours and pose a threat to customer and public safety, and that there is no system currently in place to address customer complaints. Dr. Cappon articulated concerns that included frequent dangerous driving (including speeding, tailgating, and disregard for rules of the road), aggressive behaviour towards passengers and other drivers (including altercations), the use of unsafe vehicles, and driver accusations of racism against passengers who demand a safe ride. He recommended the following as solutions to these problems:

- the development and stringent application of adequate sanctions for all drivers who exhibit such behaviours

- the establishment of a dedicated telephone number to Ottawa Police to deal with just such issues

- the requirement that all taxis have clearly posted inside a sign that sets out the rights of the passenger and lists the dedicated telephone number for complaints referred to above

- that staff monitor the safety regulations and policies of other developed countries with respect to passenger rights and sanctions, and that some of these be implemented in this city.

He noted that he had previously spoken on this issue with Chief Bevan of the Ottawa Police, who had referred him to the Taxi Advisory Committee. A copy of Dr. Cappon’s letter to Chief Bevan, in which he expands on his concerns and makes recommendations, is held on file with the Committee Coordinator.

Chair Dunlop noted a letter to the same effect that had previously appeared in the Ottawa Sun from a reporter with the Edmonton Journal. He also advised that he was in receipt of two other letters containing serious complaints about poor taxi service, one from the General Manager of a prominent downtown Ottawa hotel, and one from Ms. Beverley Markle, who also made recommendations for improvements. The Chair expressed great concern for this issue, being not only the TAC Chair, but also a representative of Ottawa’s tourism, convention, hotel and hospitality industry. He felt that the issues and recommendations in those letters should be taken into consideration.

Some members of the committee expressed disbelief that such behaviours occur frequently among taxi drivers in this city.

Ms. Beverley Markle commented that part of the problem is that even if some sort of disciplinary action is taken against a driver, the customer who registered that complaint is never informed.

Ms. Marion Williams pointed out that the number of speeding tickets issued in this city is at its highest ever, suggesting therefore that speeding is a problem. She was upset that Dr. Cappon’s comments might not be taken seriously by the committee and stressed that the TAC and the industry must be open to hearing complaints if the system is to be improved.

Linda Anderson, Manager, Enforcement and Inspections, By-law Services Branch explained the process that is in place to deal with complaints, noting that speeding issues and such are dealt with by Ottawa Police and would show up on a driver’s abstract every year when s/he was up for license renewal. Any criminal charges laid against a driver would also show up on the driver’s abstract and would be considered in the renewal process. Complaints about driver conduct are dealt with by By-Law Services, and if the complainant completes a witness statement and is able to provide enough information to identify the driver involved, punitive action will ensue where warranted. Ms. Anderson also informed that, this fall, the By-law will mandate that in addition to the rooftop sign and the plate at the back, each vehicle must have the plate number displayed on the front fender over the wheel well in 10 cm high letters. This will assist customers in identifying the car and driver when registering a complaint. She further noted that the taxi training course, which is conducted through Alqonquin College and must be completed by all drivers, also now includes an accessible training course and deals with customer service and sensitivity. She suggested TAC could review this course and make suggestions for changes.

Members discussed probable causes of the problems being reported, including other people’s driving habits, too few taxi stands, aggressive passenger behaviours, the false perception of a return time limit at the airport for taxi queuing, and a need for more City staff to follow-up on complaints and inform customers of actions taken. Some members suggested the City and industry should look at implementing a model similar to the Calgary Taxi Commission to deal with these types of issues.

Mr. Balraj Dillon, a taxi driver, informed that he has heard from fellow drivers that if they can return to their posts at the airport in a certain amount of time, they don’t have to lose their place in line. He felt that any such time rule must be dropped and the practice of rushing back must not be encouraged.

Richard Szirtes, President, West-Way Taxi Company confirmed there is no time limit rule for the airport taxis, just a geographical limit upon which the queue status is based.

Mr. Bill McConville suggested that the implementation of cameras in taxis, as sanctioned by drivers, will go a long way to address these problems and legitimize complaints.

Ms. Anderson advised that the cameras will be implemented in 2008, though it has not yet been decided whether those cameras will have voice-activation features.

Chair Dunlop recognized that improvements to the current system are required and he felt it is the TAC’s role to make suggestions for improvement to By-law Services. He suggested he and Vice-Chair McDermott would work on a proposal for approval of the TAC at its next meeting, which would encompass the safety and service issues that have been raised and would work with all of the appropriate parties. He also suggested that, as part of its 2007 work plan, the TAC could review the taxi course offered at Algonquin and make recommendations if warranted. Ms. Anderson informed she has already raised this suggestion with one of the instructors of the course, who thinks it is a good idea. The instructor is to send a copy of the course outline to Ms. Anderson for review, and she suggested that perhaps a presentation to the TAC on the course would be in order.

Action 1: The Coordinator will add this topic to the next TAC agenda for further discussion and will distribute to members a copy of Dr. Cappon’s letter to Chief Bevan.

Action 2: Members are to contact Chair Dunlop if they have any suggestions with respect to moving forward on this issue.

Action 3: Ms. Anderson will inform the Committee once she has received and reviewed the Taxi Course outline.

8. Ongoing TAC issues and Concerns - Discussion

QUESTIONS ET INQUIÉTUDES ACTUELLES DU CCT - Discussion

A. ACCESSIBLE TAXIS

TAXIS ACCESSIBLES

Reserve member Paul Bendus spoke to recent incidents regarding the availability of accessible taxi service as experienced by his daughter and by a friend of his, both of whom are disabled. In one incident, the wait to get an accessible taxi was nearly two hours and in the other incident, no service at all was available. He suggested such incidents could be avoided if all accessible taxis were put on a 24-hour shift with two drivers, not by simply issuing more accessible plates.

Bill McConville advised that in addition to being a taxi driver with D. J.’s, he is also their Union representative and he is often dealing with this issue. He reported that many of the drivers with accessible plates are requesting three drivers per car, saying that the job is too tiring, even though the taxi companies do not want that. He noted that part of the problem right now is also the way accessible service is logged in the taxi companies’ system because their computers still show an accessible taxi in service even after the driver of that vehicle has ended his shift. He suggested also that the problem could be alleviated if the dispatchers of various companies could communicate with each other regarding their available accessible service and if accessible drivers were to make pick-ups at any location rather than a designated area.

Linda Anderson, Manager, Enforcement and Inspections, By-law Services Branch stated that the branch is looking into this issue. She noted that the decision lies with the plate holder whether to work alone or with another driver. She suggested that the release of more accessible plates, which has been approved by Council, will help with service. She noted that there are currently seven accessible taxis stationed at the airport because the demand for that service is there, and that Para Transpo will also be looking to use more of them for their service. She also noted that By-laws will step up enforcement of accessible call priority, and that the GPS will help in that regard.

B. Harmonization of By-Laws

HARMONISATION DES RÈGLEMENTS MUNICIPAUX

No discussion at this time.

Adjournment

LEVÉE DE SÉANCE

The meeting adjourned at 12:07 p.m.

Original signed by Original signed by

M. Duffenais D. Dunlop

Committee Coordinator Chair