This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Calgary City Council has unanimously approved the largest increase to the city’s fleet since it was capped in the 1980s, agreeing upon adding one hundred and twenty-six new taxis to the fleet by Christmas. The council has actually approved to bring approximately 383 new cabs into the current 1,526-car closed system, but it decided to delay the release of the remaining two-thirds of those licences before spring until more cab data is collected.
Although several councilors are concerned that a “flood” of new taxis will overwhelm the industry, majority are in favor of acting on years of customer complaints about a shortage and long waits during bar closing time and party season. Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart mentioned in the session that people “don’t need more data. Don’t need more feasibility studies. Don’t need another schedule of release. The citizens want taxis.” Her statement that “let’s give them the taxis and give them all right now,” triggered an applause from a council chamber mostly full of drivers, many wearing their cab uniforms with stickers reading: “YES. 383 NEW TAXI PLATES NOW.”
Record shows that currently Calgary has one taxi per 748 citizens and these freshly promised cabs will make the ratio one to 625, i.e. below Edmonton’s current mix. The council is hopeful that the new cabs will be all in use on Friday and Saturday nights, i.e. peak hours, and only drivers can secure the plates and not the company brokers that control much of the city’s supply.
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