CALGARY TAXIS BULLETIN #003 ACCESSIBLE TAXI INCENTIVE PROGRAM CHANGES Feb 7, 2023

BULLETIN #003
ACCESSIBLE TAXI INCENTIVE PROGRAM CHANGES

2023 FEB 07

 


Thanks again to everyone who participated in the engagement sessions regarding WAV Calgary and the Accessible Taxi Incentive Program (ATIP).  Industry was very engaging, provided valuable feedback, and below is a summary:

  • WAV Calgary should not be operated through a taxi company
  • There must be fairness, transparency, and equity amongst all drivers on the WAV Calgary platform
  • Some drivers (on the WAV Calgary platform) automatically receive the ‘big’ trips, even if they are not the closest taxi to the pick-up location
  • WAV Calgary phone lines are frequently busy and drivers are unable to contact a dispatcher to confirm trip details or request assistance
  • Google Map on the tablet is outdated
  • Drivers should receive the per-trip incentive for “Code 8” trips (provided through their broker)
  • Drivers should receive the per-trip incentive for WAV trips cancelled by the customer and ‘no shows’
  • Change the timeframe of AM/PM hours for the per-trip incentives (4AM – 6PM and 6PM – 4AM)
  • Drivers should receive the per-trip incentives monthly, rather than quarterly
  • More funding to deal with aging vehicles, increasing costs for replacement vehicles, and increasing costs for ramp installations in new/newer vehicles

ATIP Changes:

  • Per-trip Incentive hours will be changed to 4AM – 4PM and 4PM – 4AM
  • Per-trip incentives will be issued monthly (for trips completed on the WAV Calgary platform)
  • Per-trip incentives will be increased to $15 (4AM – 4PM) AND $25 (4PM – 4AM)
  • Yearly accessible driver incentives will increase from $2000 to $4500
  • Yearly accessible plate holder incentives will increase from $3000 to $3500

The Vehicle for Hire Team is exploring the opportunity to offer additional incentives:

  • ‘Code 8’ trips
  • Customer ‘cancelled’ and ‘no show’ trips
  • Financial assistance for the ramp installation

The City is engaging with WAV Calgary representatives, exploring system updates/data reviews, and evaluating the opportunity for new incentives.  The updated version of the Accessible Taxi Incentive Framework is posted on Calgary.ca.

This bulletin is also available in AmharicArabicHindiPunjabiSomali and Urdu at Calgary.ca.

If you have any further questions regarding the Accessible Taxi Incentive Program, please email ltsengagement@calgary.ca.

Sincerely,

Acting Deputy Chief, Public Vehicle Standards

Emergency Management & Community Safety

TAXI CALGARY LTS BULLETIN #0025 DECEMBER 8 2022

BULLETIN #025

2022 DECEMBER 8

ACCESSIBLE TAXI INCENTIVE PROGRAM (ATIP)

ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

For Accessible Taxi Plate Licence Holders and Accessible Drivers

Join us for a session to hear about improvements and changes to ATIP. This is also an opportunity for you to share your feedback on the program.

There are a total of three (3) sessions for your convenience, please register for one of the sessions.

 

Virtual Session

     Where:               Microsoft Teams Live Event

     When:                December 21, 2022

                               9:30am to 11:30am

     To Register:        December 21 Virtual Session

OR

In-person Sessions

     Where:               Vehicle for Hire Licensing Office

                               2340 22 Street NE

                               Hurricane Boardroom

     When:                 December 20, 2022

                                 9:30am to 11:30am

                                           OR

                                December 21, 2022

                                 1:00pm to 3:00pm

     To Register:         December 20 In-person Session

                                December 21 In-person Session

Register early as space is limited for in-person sessions

Thank you for registering for one (1) session and we look forward to seeing you.

If you have further questions about these sessions, please contact ltsengagement@calgary.ca

Sincerely,

Abdul Rafih

Deputy Chief VFH Public Safety


This bulletin is also available in Amharic, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali and Urdu at Calgary.ca.

IS RACISM ALIVE AND WELL IN CALGARY? YOU BET IT IS!

John Bliss

IS RACISM ALIVE AND WELL IN CALGARY? YOU BET IT IS: JUST ASK A CABBIE!            

Anyone including the White Anglo-Saxon males can easily be a victim of racism: Just ask my dearly departed grandfather.  Upon his arrival here in 1906 his employability was hampered by signs everywhere that read “Help Wanted: no Englishmen need apply”.

You might want to call that reverse discrimination—a common misnomer in face of the reality that there is no such thing as “reverse discrimination”.  It is pure discrimination and racism no matter the victim’s ethnic background. It is still racism.

Flash forward three generations and there I am driving a cab in pursuit of a college education.  After graduation, I began working in Alberta’s oilfields and quickly discovered an unbelievably shocking level of racism throughout Alberta.

I shocked at the incidence of racism everywhere, particularly in housing and employment.  Compared to other provinces where I lived, Alberta landlords and employers were cherry picking the race of their choice with impunity, for unlike the rest of Canada, human rights laws were archaic and unenforced on a variety of political pretexts.

The taxi industry was brutal and stood out as the poster boy for racism anywhere in Canada.  It was a regular occurrence for me to see customers at taxi stands leaning to check the skin color of a cab’s driver before hiring.  They were not infrequently belligerent when I told such customers to take the first cab in the que.

I had my own taxi and as such, would hire drivers.  I was then with Red Top Taxi a white man only company.  Being a Baha’i I was not about to get racist in my hiring practices.

In 1984 I found myself in trouble with the company over my hiring a person of color.  I stood my ground and went to the Alberta Human Rights Commission.  The commission told me that white persons could not complain on behalf of visible minorities and if my religion were an obstacle, I should work for another broker or start my own company.

In other words, it was obvious that the government of the day was unclear of the concept that members of the Ku Klux Klan were not qualified as intake officers for the commission.

Both Calgary’s taxi brokers and local politicians were brazenly racist to the extreme.  One manager said “I’m not prejudiced, I simply hate their guts” while a city councilor walked up to a group of company managers in my presence and blurted “You boys don’t need to worry, we’ll (city council) take care of those turban heads for you.”  It was obvious where council’s in camera debates were heading.

It was clearly obvious that cab drivers—most of whom by the mid 1980’s were visible minorities, had to cope with politicians who were publicly champions of racial equality and in camera racists from the word go.

That generation of political leadership is now a thing of the past, for children of today are racially colorblind.  Kids today are noticeably intolerant of racist attitudes.  It clearly shows that extermination of racism begins with the education the suckling generation and the public in general.

Society can’t even begin to reconcile with oppressed minorities.  Reconciliation simply doesn’t work.  Instead embrace each other’s racial and cultural heritage, for true reconciliation is through embracement and not apologies for past wrongs.

For example, why not instruct school boards to teach the First Nations language of the tribe where the school board is located and name a street or other landmark after DR PETER HENDERSON BRYCE —a champion of native rights.

John bliss©2020

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