Vibrant cities require a healthy, safe, service-oriented taxi industry in order to further the economic, environmental and social goals of the community. When the number of taxis that can operate fails to meet demand the needs of the community are not being satisfied. Calgary’s travelling public and consumer groups are not organized in a way that lets them have an effective, consistent, informed voice to advocate for better and more taxi services in the city of Calgary. In the recent bylaw discussions, consumers were uninvolved and unrepresented, even though significant issues of consumer protection, public safety, and service quality (and quantity) were being debated.

The challenge: a balanced dialogue

Law-makers, in cities across Canada, are as frustrated as anyone with the lack of public involvement in the debate about taxi services. Aldermen are only able to respond to the voices they hear. While the taxi industry is able to consistently offer its perspectives on what it considers appropriate regulation, individual taxi customers are unable to invest the amount of time it would take to understand the complexities of the issues. And those who do want to see change become frustrated at trying to penetrate the complex governance and administrative structure developed to oversee the industry.

The concept: a united voice

To organize consumers under the one banner of “Voters For Taxis”, which would represent the interests of the travelling public on issues related to taxi services, inform that public of the challenges of taxi reform to improve service, and which would be called upon as a stakeholder whenever issues regarding taxi services are being considered.