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Life in the gypsy lane
Julie Fortier
Evading notice: "Gypsy" cabs abound in Ottawa, but can the City do anything about it?
photo: Stuart Trew
Cheap and reliable, illegal cabs flourish despite city rules
Last week I had a conversation with Guy Oweis, manager of operations for DJ's Taxi. I asked him if he knew how much money unlicensed cabs were costing him. "There are fewer unlicensed cabs than there have ever been," he told me, and he didn't really see a problem.
It was a strange comment because the next day, the City's taxi advisory committee met and its main topic was unlicensed cabs. The cab companies complained that the underground industry was taking away all their suburban fares, that the situation was out of control and getting worse all the time.
Citing the dangers of illegal cabs - a "gypsy" minivan full of commuters from Montreal crashed on the 401 a few years ago, killing everyone on board - councillor Diane Deans promised the City was about to get tough, although before the meeting, she said, she had "no idea how prevalent they were."
Everyone knows someone who knows someone who has used an unlicensed cab. Their popularity lies in fact that they charge a cheap flat rate while legitimate cab fares keep jumping higher due to increasing City licensing fees. This makes them popular with the poor, university students, strippers and anyone looking to save a buck.
The cars are unmarked so anyone could be one. As one young, female driver who calls herself simply "S" told XPress, "If my friend paid me $20 to drive her home, that would be legal. There's really not that much difference from what I do."
But unlicensed cabs are not just one-person businesses, with people earning extra
money in their off time. The meeting between Deans and the taxi industry put that myth to rest. S's company has a fleet of 15 drivers or more and she says she can make anywhere from $40 to $400 a night depending on how long she wants to work and what kind of fares she decides to take.
A dispatcher calls them on cell phones and sends the drivers to locations. "They hand out cards at hotels, apartment buildings, clubs, all over. People just call the main guy and then the guy calls us to go get the fares," she said.
She carries pepper spray with her at all times and a dispatcher always knows where she is. In case of any dangerous situations, the dispatcher sends in a "couple of guys" to help her out.
"It is dangerous, people might try to jack you, but I feel pretty safe."
With the City's bylaw services department claiming to crack down on operations like this, it is a wonder how it happens without City officers knowing. S says enforcement is a joke and it was no wonder there were so many unlicensed cab companies in Ottawa. "I've been pulled over several times. All I have to do is show the cops my business card and they let me go. For them, it's more of a hassle to get everyone out of the car. They don't want to make a scene. I have never got a ticket."
She works at night and picks up strippers who don't want to be hassled by regular cab drivers, and other people at home and at bars. "People call and we get there in about 30 minutes to an hour, just like a regular cab. We are doing the cops a service. Would they rather have drunk people drive home or stand on the street getting in fights?"
The only difference, she says, is the price. S usually charges $10 to go from a suburb like Orleans to downtown. Sean Vitalis, a student at Carleton University, has used these types of cabs for years and told XPress the price tends to be a $10 flat rate from the Bayshore area to the Market and it goes up $5 for every extra person in the car.
"A real cab fare would be more like $40, so it's really worth it. I've gotten the feeling that many of these drivers are cab drivers on their off-time trying to make an extra buck, I'm not nervous about using them at all," he said.
Another cab-user I spoke with, we'll call her J, uses a service that operates in the west end. She did not want to use her name for fear that she, and the friend who vouched for her to get in on the service, would be cut off. She described a large fleet of drivers that also communicate with cell phones and are always busy with customers.
"They won't take just anyone. The first thing they ask is, 'Who do you know?' I only got in through a friend that they trust. After I rode with her they took down my address so they would remember me," J said.
This makes Ottawa's underground taxi industry very different from cities such as London, England, famous for its huge fleet of "gypsy cabs." In London, unlicensed cab drivers are very open about their attempts at getting fares, and often barter with people in tourist areas and outside clubs at closing times.
Even New York City allows "gypsy cabs" to serve in neighbourhoods too dangerous for regular drivers.
In Ottawa, the gypsy companies know what they're doing is illegal.
"I made the mistake of asking for a taxi to pick me up the first time I called. The guy said, 'That's not what you say.' So I asked, 'Could someone come and pick me up, uh, and bring me somewhere?' He said that was more like it," explained Vitalis.
But the penalty for having an unlicensed car service is only $500, a big hint why they are so prevalent today. "The fine is a joke. If I ever did get a fine, which I never have, I'd just work a little harder to pay it off," S said laughing.
Julie Fortier
Evading notice: "Gypsy" cabs abound in Ottawa, but can the City do anything about it?
photo: Stuart Trew
Cheap and reliable, illegal cabs flourish despite city rules
Last week I had a conversation with Guy Oweis, manager of operations for DJ's Taxi. I asked him if he knew how much money unlicensed cabs were costing him. "There are fewer unlicensed cabs than there have ever been," he told me, and he didn't really see a problem.
It was a strange comment because the next day, the City's taxi advisory committee met and its main topic was unlicensed cabs. The cab companies complained that the underground industry was taking away all their suburban fares, that the situation was out of control and getting worse all the time.
Citing the dangers of illegal cabs - a "gypsy" minivan full of commuters from Montreal crashed on the 401 a few years ago, killing everyone on board - councillor Diane Deans promised the City was about to get tough, although before the meeting, she said, she had "no idea how prevalent they were."
Everyone knows someone who knows someone who has used an unlicensed cab. Their popularity lies in fact that they charge a cheap flat rate while legitimate cab fares keep jumping higher due to increasing City licensing fees. This makes them popular with the poor, university students, strippers and anyone looking to save a buck.
The cars are unmarked so anyone could be one. As one young, female driver who calls herself simply "S" told XPress, "If my friend paid me $20 to drive her home, that would be legal. There's really not that much difference from what I do."
But unlicensed cabs are not just one-person businesses, with people earning extra
money in their off time. The meeting between Deans and the taxi industry put that myth to rest. S's company has a fleet of 15 drivers or more and she says she can make anywhere from $40 to $400 a night depending on how long she wants to work and what kind of fares she decides to take.
A dispatcher calls them on cell phones and sends the drivers to locations. "They hand out cards at hotels, apartment buildings, clubs, all over. People just call the main guy and then the guy calls us to go get the fares," she said.
She carries pepper spray with her at all times and a dispatcher always knows where she is. In case of any dangerous situations, the dispatcher sends in a "couple of guys" to help her out.
"It is dangerous, people might try to jack you, but I feel pretty safe."
With the City's bylaw services department claiming to crack down on operations like this, it is a wonder how it happens without City officers knowing. S says enforcement is a joke and it was no wonder there were so many unlicensed cab companies in Ottawa. "I've been pulled over several times. All I have to do is show the cops my business card and they let me go. For them, it's more of a hassle to get everyone out of the car. They don't want to make a scene. I have never got a ticket."
She works at night and picks up strippers who don't want to be hassled by regular cab drivers, and other people at home and at bars. "People call and we get there in about 30 minutes to an hour, just like a regular cab. We are doing the cops a service. Would they rather have drunk people drive home or stand on the street getting in fights?"
The only difference, she says, is the price. S usually charges $10 to go from a suburb like Orleans to downtown. Sean Vitalis, a student at Carleton University, has used these types of cabs for years and told XPress the price tends to be a $10 flat rate from the Bayshore area to the Market and it goes up $5 for every extra person in the car.
"A real cab fare would be more like $40, so it's really worth it. I've gotten the feeling that many of these drivers are cab drivers on their off-time trying to make an extra buck, I'm not nervous about using them at all," he said.
Another cab-user I spoke with, we'll call her J, uses a service that operates in the west end. She did not want to use her name for fear that she, and the friend who vouched for her to get in on the service, would be cut off. She described a large fleet of drivers that also communicate with cell phones and are always busy with customers.
"They won't take just anyone. The first thing they ask is, 'Who do you know?' I only got in through a friend that they trust. After I rode with her they took down my address so they would remember me," J said.
This makes Ottawa's underground taxi industry very different from cities such as London, England, famous for its huge fleet of "gypsy cabs." In London, unlicensed cab drivers are very open about their attempts at getting fares, and often barter with people in tourist areas and outside clubs at closing times.
Even New York City allows "gypsy cabs" to serve in neighbourhoods too dangerous for regular drivers.
In Ottawa, the gypsy companies know what they're doing is illegal.
"I made the mistake of asking for a taxi to pick me up the first time I called. The guy said, 'That's not what you say.' So I asked, 'Could someone come and pick me up, uh, and bring me somewhere?' He said that was more like it," explained Vitalis.
But the penalty for having an unlicensed car service is only $500, a big hint why they are so prevalent today. "The fine is a joke. If I ever did get a fine, which I never have, I'd just work a little harder to pay it off," S said laughing.
