Toronto cab drivers are trying to get the public on their side as they fight proposed taxi reforms that they claim will result in higher fares, longer waits for customers and more pollution.

In a public campaign launched Tuesday, the Toronto Taxi Alliance is urging people to oppose at least some of the proposed changes that are part of a review that a new poll shows most Torontonians aren’t even aware of.

The Taxicab Industry Review began in 2011 and is being conducted by City of Toronto staff, who are identifying ways to resolve issues revolving around things such as customer service, fares, and health and safety to improve cab service.

More than 40 recommendations have already been suggested, and a final report will be presented to the city’s licensing and standards committee in January and city council after that.

The TTA is speaking out against most of the recommendations, including proposals to make all taxis wheelchair accessible by 2025 and to create a new owner-operator plate called the Toronto Taxi License that would be phased in to replace the current tiered licensing system. The new licence would be awarded only to wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

TTA co-founder Gail Souter said the consequences of the potential changes to the city-regulated industry have not been thoroughly thought out.

"On the surface, some of these reforms sound good in theory but when you look at the full picture they will destroy the taxi experience in our city," Souter said in a written statement.

If cab operators were forced to purchase wheelchair-accessible vehicles, the cost would be passed on to customers through increased cab fares, the group says.

The group also claims there were be more pollution because cab owners would be forced to buy larger vans with higher emissions instead of more fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids.

The TTA says it fully supports having more wheelchair-accessible taxis on the road but it calls the proposed mandate an “illogical leap,” claiming less than one per cent of current calls for service require accessible vehicles.

It would not be an impossible feat if the city approves the mandate. Every cab is wheelchair-accessible in London, England.

A preliminary report prepared by City of Toronto staff said people who rely on wheelchair-accessible transportation face challenges in obtaining affordable and on-demand taxi service.

When the report was published in September 2012, the city had 170 accessible taxis, accounting for 3.5 per cent of all cabs on the road. Most of those cabs are on contract with TTC Wheel-Trans, meaning people must be eligible under the Wheel-Trans requirements to access the service.

In 2011, Wheel-Trans had nearly three million calls for service from people with disabilities, and 97 per cent of those trips were completed with a combination of Wheel-Trans buses and accessible taxis.

Overall, there are almost 10,000 licensed taxicab drivers and 5,000 licensed cabs that make roughly 60,000 daily trips, according to city statistics.

Group opposed to harmonized licence

The TTA is opposed to the Toronto Taxi License, which would act as a harmonized licence that would prevent owners from leasing their vehicles full-time. Owners would be required to drive full-time, but they could rent out a second shift.

That change would force owners to drive longer hours to make a living, leading to unsafe conditions for drivers, passengers and other road users, the TTA argues.

Currently, Toronto has three types of taxi licences – standard, ambassador and accessible.

With a transferrable standard licence, cab owners are permitted to drive that vehicle some of the time and lease or rent out the cab to someone else for the remainder of the time. A taxicab with a non-transferrable ambassador licence can only be operated by the person who holds that licence and the vehicle cannot be on the road for more than 12 hours a day.

As part of the campaign, the TTA has launched a website to lobby for public support and it is encouraging taxi customers to voice their opposition.

The coalition also hired polling firm Angus Reid to question Torontonians about the proposed recommendations.

Here are some of the highlights from the survey:

  • 83 per cent of Torontonians are unaware that the review is taking place
  • 70 per cent of Torontonians oppose the recommendation to make all taxis wheelchair-accessible by 2025 if it means that fuel-efficient taxis would be replaced with less fuel-efficient vans
  • 62 per cent of Torontonians oppose to creation of the Toronto Taxi License for all new taxi owners if it could lead to taxi drivers working longer hours and creating potentially unsafe driving situations

The online survey was conducted among 1,021 randomly-selected Toronto residents with a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The city’s last review of the taxi industry took place in 1998. That review contained 50 recommendations, including the creation of ambassador licences.

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