Man, what is it with cabbies in this city? While driving I have been cut off, nearly hit and tailgated. While cycling I almost got hit on Spring Garden – I was beside the cab and he pulled out! Luckily he had an open window and I managed to embarrass him and his passengers using choice 4 letter words! When I called the cab company they said cabbies rent the roof light and they buy the calls from the taxi co. and they do not control or regulate how they drive. Calls and emails to the Taxi Association fell on deaf ears. So I guess cabs do not have to follow rules? Well, guess what Yellowcab roof light 789 – I am on a mission – lets see what happens when I cut you off stupid mother fucker!
— pissed off at cabs
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2009.
Cabbies drive crazy so they can get more fares in a given amount of time. Each ride starts with a base charge, so lots of short trips are better than a few long ones. Also, if they drive too slow, the customer complains. I’m not trying to justify bad cab driving, just trying to understand it.
You wanna know what happens when a bicycle picks a fight with a 3000+ lb mass of metal, OP? The bicycle looses. The best you can hope for is that the driver breaks “traffic law” (vs OP’s law) and then you don’t call the cab company and you don’t call some taxi association. You call the cops… but only if you had a legitimate problem. Your problem, dear OP, is with your local MP. Tell them the HRM needs bike paths and bike lanes.
Cab drivers are crazy now a days!
– They will refuse a fair to dartmouth (from hali)
– They refuse you to use debt
– They are uping the pick up fee it seems to be diffrent everytime!!!
try living in the big t.o. man that city is just fucken nutso. drivers will try to force you so far to the right,you have to jump a curb to get away. then don’t try crossing a street there either. but the all time winner of rude drivers, goes to montreal. even in the most populated city of new york, it isn’t as bad,because of the traffic crawl. you walk out the door today,if you can walk back in, consider yourself lucky.
Jane — I *think* the reason why cabs won’t take you to dartmouth is because they’re regulated by the city or province or whatever and I think only a certain amount can be in a certain area at any given time. It’s RIDICULOUS.
Anyway, I was crossing by the old bridge a couple summers ago to walk over said bridge and I had a green light when this cabbie almost ploughs into me going through the red light and when he stops he leaned his head out the window to yell at me! I called him a very bad word (something that had to do with sucking and penises) and gave him a friendly little wave with one finger.
Life Sucks: cabbies in TO are nuts. Every single cabbie I’ve had there was rude and aggressive as shit. The only decent cab experience I had there was the car from the airport to DT, but that wasn’t so much a cab as it was a car service (big black limo-like car with no light on top).
PK, As I understand it, cabs work in zones and there are only a certain number of cabs per zone. But if you get in a cab in halifax, they should be able to take you to PEI if you want to. They may be reluctant to take you to dartmouth because they are afraid of getting stabbed, or because they might not be able to pick up a fare on the way back if it’s not their zone. It’s probably the former.
Pretty Kitty, a Halifax cab is not allowed to refuse a fare to Dartmouth, same goes for a Dartmouth cab heading to Halifax. You pay a surcharge of $1.50 to pay the round trip bridge toll so the cabbie isn’t out of pocket for the 75cents when empty.
The restrictions mean that a Dartmouth-based cab cannot simply pick up a new fare in Halifax on the trip home, but I believe the exception is when you specifically request a certain cab for a pickup, but flag down fares are not allowed. Basically a taxi can pick up in their own territory and drop off in another but cannot pick up outside that territory in most cases.
Any driver is not allowed to refuse a fare to anywhere, regardless if it takes them across the bridge or out to a place like Bag-Town. I helpful tip I learned was this: when a cabbie asked me where I was heading before I got in the cab, I’d ignore him until I got in, then I’d tell them. For the odd one that would not unlock the door before I told them where I was heading, I’d tell them that if they refused my fare, I’d report them to the Commission (after of course, taking the light number and the company).
To the driving skills employed by the cabbies in this city, they’re mild. I remember where I was in Montreal last, the driver that took me from the airport was driving like a madman in the middle of a snowstorm. Good times had by all.
Just came back from Montreal. Avoided cabs and got around fine just using transit (imagine a transit system that gets you from the airport to downtown, yes it does exist). Anyway, after I saw how drivers in general drive around Montreal I was more than glad to use the subway most of the time.
BRoc– Company paid for my transport to and from the airport. Also, I was real glad that they had a dedicated taxi service right at the airport: I landed at 12 am and had to be up for a 9:30 am meeting… But I’ll agree, the transit system in Mtl is far superior, thanks to the subway. Also, there are plenty of cities in Canada that have transit that go from the airport to “downtown”. Then again, most cities have the airport as a actual part of the city, not 25 KM away.
Other Canadian cities have airports that are almost as far away from downtown, they just have buildings instead of trees between the two points (Edmonton ~30Km, Toronto ~28km).
As for the transit thing, the volume of people going through the Halifax airport is much less than in larger centers so I’m not sure how effective public transit would be. If you take the airport shuttle, which runs every hour is often only about half full. If the city ran an express bus or something it would either run too infrequently to be useful or the route would take a loss.
YES, Miles, and VOR, I knew it was something like that — they couldn’t pick up a fare on their way back…
…although Miles’ stabbing theory does hold a lot of merit.
*shudder* Dartmouth.
A cab wouldnt stop for me today at a crosswalk and then had the nerve to swear at me.
Just a side note if you frequent the Halifax airport; taxis and limos are the same price excluding the tip.
Miles – Metro Transit would get a good number of passengers by running a loop from the Bridge Terminal out to the airport then continue to the Irving in Enfield for “park n ride” type of riders or rural passengers who are able to make it to that location, head back to the airport and then into town again. Not to mention the ridership from airport workers and those employed at the nearby industrial park.
30 minute service from 6:30 to 9:30am and 3:30 to 6:30-pm with hourly service during off peak daytime and evenings would do quite well 7 days a week.
It could work just like Montreal’s #211 (Bord du Lac) which runs from the Lionel-Groulx metro station non stop along highway 20 for 15 minutes until it hits the Dorval Station. Then it continues outbound for another 20 minutes or so, loops through a suburb and heads back on the reverse routing.
I neglected to mention that a transit route charging $2.25 (or $3.25 like the new MetroX route to Tantallon) would open itself up to many more users compared to the Airporter (under contract to HIAA) at $21 each way.
Transit routes usually don’t turn a profit but I’m certain ridership would be more than adequate once people realised they didn’t have to spend $42 on a round trip.
VOR: I think a public bus route is a great idea…I just wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t make economic sense. I just don’t know if the Halifax airport is busy enough to justify a bus route. What you say makes sense, if the numbers add up.
For me, the problem is really finding the balance between running the bus frequently enough (not more than every 30min) to be useful and still be full enough to maximize revenue. Using it to pick up commuters to Halifax might be a good way to increase ridership enough though. Also, I would think running the bus to a few key Halifax hotels, as well as the bridge terminal would make it more usable and increase pick ups on the way to the airport.
But, given MT”s record for producing inconvenient and inefficient bus routes, I don’t expect any airport miracles.
A friend was just telling me today that several cabs refused to drive her to Cowie Hill from downtown Saturday night. Is that legal?
No Sarah, it’s not legal. But there’s really no one to complain to – at least no one who gives a fuck.
PK-> I know but it is crummy i am paying $20 to take like a 10 min cab its insane!!! I had a cool cab driver (rare i know) and he said that if they go to a physical house address they will take you BUT if you are getting picked up DT or wherever (like flag a cab down) they will refuse to go to Dartmouth
When I was a bike courier (in other cities) cabbies were always the ones you had to really watch. I find them in general more careful here than in bigger cities.
You live in a city where the laws are the same for bikes as they are for cars (laws were made by people who don’t bike and can’t be bothered to properly legislate this) with lots of drivers who don’t know what that signaling thingy on the steering wheel is for. Keep your eyes open, spot the dangers, and remember you are the one who will be hurt in the event someone doesn’t see you.
Miles- “afraid of getting stabbed taking a fare to Dartmouth”. You are absolutely right!!! It is MUCH safer in places like Uniake Square or “Got a Gun” Street *Rolling my Eyes*.
On another note I have lived in many cities and I agree. The cab situation is far worse in Halifax and Dartmouth than anyplace. Half the time when you come out of a bar drunk late at night and try to call one they do not even pick up the phone. So people, who are in no position to make sound decisions, end up getting in their car and driving home because they have stood and waited an hour and figure they ar enow sober.
oh Bobby, I wish I could tell you why I hate it here but YOU’VE already got it figured. 1+1=2 today, huh?
Bobby, lighten up. The second part of that quote was the serious part, not the stabbing part.
Kay, I am truly sorry you are having such a miserable experience in Nova Scotia.
There are a few redeeming personalities that keep me here. If you’re one of ’em Miles that leaves two. Thank you. I’m gonna do my part to make things better and keep on fuckin’ smilin’. Thank God I have a place to dump my shit. I LTWWB.