Taxi!
Photo of taxis in motion courtesy of Bigstock Photo
A faint light comes into view at the other end of Granville Street, and I find myself leaping into the road. It’s 3 a.m. on a Sunday, cold air biting at my feet. I need a cab.
The previously halted cars rush by, strokes of taxicab yellow, and I awkwardly fling my arms into the air. In front of me, five different groups of people appear to do the same. Three partygoers gurgle with pleasure near by. Two women, wearing ripped nylons, flick their cigarettes into the sky and spew profanities at the passing cars.
My breath materializes into a mutant cloud in front of me. Then it disappears.
Cabs speed by like yellow bullets. Not one stops. Shadows can be seen moving behind the fogged-up windows. My legs quake. The robot voice on the other end of the phone encourages me to “hold on”, a taxi representative will speak to me soon, it’s faster this way, and to not drink and drive.
40 minutes crawl by.
I wait. I wave. I walk. I sit.
I turn around and walk two blocks. A bus is waiting. I get closer. It’s not my bus. I wait. Another bus arrives. I stand up. I enter. I sit.
Happiness.
Is it normal, expected for high-demand Vancouver cabs to be so unavailable on a Saturday night (technically early Sunday morning), especially when SkyTrain stops running after a certain hour?
Thoughts are welcomed and appreciated.
Let’s vent it out, together.
(3) Comments
The biggest issue we face at about 3AM is the cab companies pretty much all do their shift changes at 4AM and 4PM. Drivers work a 12 hour shift, and they are expected to return the cab clean and fueled up for the start of the next shift.
That means drivers start heading back for home base not long after 3AM (and 3PM for that matter), making it very difficult to get a cab around those times. If you go by any of the cab depots around 4:00 (either AM or PM, doesn't matter) you'll see cab drivers everywhere in the process of getting their cabs ready to turn over.
In contrast, you'll find trying to get a cab at about 4:30 or so is quite easy in comparison.
SHIFT CHANGE! BBBBB SSSSSS !!!!!!
PT Board when issued 111 + 65 Top taxi permits to 4 Vancouver taxi companies directed none of these taxi drivers can change shift between 3am to 5 am. No authority is enforcing this condition, why? Because directors of these companies including GVRD give hefty election funds to PT Board’s masters MLAs and also to city council.
Don’t expect it will change after election, because Black top’ former President and still owner of Cab # 20 contesting election in May from Surrey.