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Hail, hail: more cabs coming to Nanaimo roads

Nov 27, 2018 | 2:27 PM

NANAIMO — A long sought after boost to Nanaimo’s taxi fleet is finally on the way, as ride-hailing competitors wait for their turn to join the market.

The Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) has approved a 15 per cent increase to the overall number of cabs in Nanaimo. That means roughly 10 more taxis will be on the road as soon as possible between two local companies.

Yellow Cab managing director Anup Kang said it’s a big step forward for the local market, noting the PTB has not approved an increase in fleet size for his company since 2008. A 2012 request to expand was denied, Kang said.

“On the evenings when we’re really busy, that’s 15 per cent more people we will be able to give a ride to. It will have a big impact for sure,” Kang said.

Kang didn’t have an exact timeline for when the new cabs would be on the road but said they’re working as quickly as possible and hope to have some in business in time for Christmas party season.

Linda Hill, with Nanaimo’s AC Taxi, said they will add six cabs within the coming months.

“Even on our slow days we’re so behind,” Hill said. “The town is growing faster than we can.”

Hill pointed to a very difficult process to gain expansion approval from the PTB, saying in 2017 AC applied for four new vehicles and was approved for two.

Both Kang and Hill said staffing the additional positions could be a potential barrier.

“That’s one of our issues in Nanaimo, is having enough staff to get our full fleet rolling all the time. I imagine there’s going to be some issues,” Kang said.

Nanaimo cab companies have long been criticized for long waits, especially on popular party nights like Halloween and New Year’s.

Kang said the reality is even if they boosted their fleet by 50 per cent for those nights it still wouldn’t help serve the thousands and thousands of people looking for rides. He said it’s usually only on those four to five days a year when they are unable to respond efficiently to the demand.

The quickest way to get a ride is through the company’s smartphone app, Kang said, because it bypasses often overloaded dispatch switchboards and sends a call directly to the taxis on the road.

The province meanwhile is muddling its way through passing legislation to allow ride-hailing services to operate in B.C. The Minister in charge of the matter said it will likely be late 2019 at the earliest before the industry can move ahead. Critics slammed the proposed legislation as simply an expanded taxi industry instead of true ride-hailing.

Kang said he’s heard both Lyft and Uber have plans to enter the Nanaimo market.

He said it’s hard to say if the services would prosper on the mid-island and said on the busiest nights of the year, it likely wouldn’t make much difference anyway.

“I just don’t think there’s enough demand here for them to be successful on a consistent basis.”

When asked about their intentions for Nanaimo, Uber was non-committal.

“Unfortunately it is premature to (sic) Uber to comment on specific municipalities as the legislation (presented) leaves many of the key policies to be determined in the future through regulation,” an emailed statement said.

Lyft did not respond to a request for comment.

 

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi