TAXI SUPPLY DEMAND RATIO FOR THE CITY OF CALGARY PHASE I & PHASE II RECOMMENDATIONS

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1 Page 1 of 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Report to the (TLAC), on the recommendations outlined in the Taxi Supply and Demand Ratio Hara Phase I Assessment of Current Service and Phase II Measurable Service Standards. TLAC CHAIR RECOMMENDATION(S) That TLAC recommends to Council that: 1. The eight (8) recommendations in Hara Phase I Assessment of Current Service, Attachment 1, be adopted, 2. The Phase II Measurable Service Standards Draft, Attachment 2, is accepted in its entirety by TLAC as the final report, and 3. The recommendations four (4) and five (5) of Phase II Measurable Service Standards Attachment 2, be adopted. 4. Administration to prepare a report to Council outlining the recommendations from the Taxi Supply and Demand Ratio Hara Phase I and Phase II reports as amended by TLAC and attaches any required bylaw amendments. PREVIOUS COUNCIL DIRECTION / POLICY At the 2009 November 30 Combined Meeting of Council it was Moved by Alderman Colley- Urquhart, Seconded by Alderman Connelly, that the SPC on Land Use, Planning and Transportation Recommendations contained in Report LPT be adopted, after amendment, as follows: that Administration work with Taxi Limousine Advisory Committee (TLAC) to research the taxi supply/demand ratio in the City of Calgary, including establishing a formula based on a per capita indicator, for when new licenses are required, and report back through the SPC on Land Use, Planning and Transportation no later than 2010 June 16; and At the 2011 January 07, Regular Meeting of TLAC, it was Moved by Mrs. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Wells that TLAC TAXI PLATE STUDY which included the edited version of Phase I of the Taxi Supply Demand Ratio by Hara and Associates for the City of Calgary be accepted. At the 2011 June 17, Regular Meeting of TLAC, the Chair stated that in relation to TLAC Taxi Supply Demand Ratio for the City of Calgary Phase II: Measurable Service Standards that a copy of Phase II will be made available to the public on the TLAC website for review. The August meeting of TLAC will be for discussion of this report with Dr. Hara in attendance to answer any questions. Public submission requests will can be made through the website.

2 Page 2 of 7 At the 2011 July 22, Regular Meeting of TLAC, the Chair stated in relation to TLAC PHASE II: MEASURABLE SERVICE STANDARDS CONFIRMATION OF PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE, Submissions are to be sent to TLAC by July 31st. At the time of this meeting there have been no submissions made. At the 2011 August 19, Regular Meeting of TLAC, it was Moved by Mrs. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Partington that in relation to TLAC PHASE II: MEASURABLE SERVICE STANDARDS, LTS report to TLAC at the September meeting after consultation with the Brokers on the availability of data for the public as outlined in Table 3 of Hara s Phase II report. At the 2011 September 16, Regular Meeting of TLAC, it was Moved by Mr. Richard, seconded by Mrs. Anderson that in relation to TLAC PHASE II: MEASURABLE SERVICE STANDARDS that the recommendations 1a, 1b, 1c and 2 of the Livery Transport Services Data Availability and Cost Review, Hara Phase II be approved. The adoption by TLAC of this recommendation resulted in the partial adoption of the adoption Phase II Measurable Service Standards recommendations one (1), two (2) and three (3) with the following amendments. a. TLAC and LTS request the brokers continue to provide the data requested including Trip Volumes, Dispatch Response Times, and Vehicle Counts monthly as they have been doing so voluntarily until a comprehensive electronic solution is available. This would additionally require the Brokers to authorize LTS to share the data as required once it has been collated and proprietary information has been removed. b. TLAC recommends that LTS prepare amendments to the Livery Transport Bylaw which would mandate to collection and reporting of the data outlined in table 3, Phase II to the Manager of LTS in a format and frequency approved by the Manager of LTS. c. The industry is given 12 months lead time in order to facilitate programming and implementation timelines to provide a comprehensive and complete data set. d. That the requirement to include Telephone Response Times also be included in a package of amendments with the proposed implementation date of three (3) years from the date of the bylaw amendments. At the 2011 December 16, Regular Meeting of TLAC, it was Moved by Mr. Wells, seconded by Ms. McBride that TLAC receive the Hara report (Phase I and Phase II) for information and to table the Taxi Supply and Demand Ratio Hara Phase I Assessment of Current Service and Phase II Measurable Service Standards recommendations, and bring the reports back to the 2012, January 20 Regular Meeting of TLAC.

3 Page 3 of 7 BACKGROUND Phase I addresses the adequacy of taxi supply. It includes a benchmarking comparison with cities similar to Calgary, and recommends a formula for managing future numbers of taxicab and accessible taxicab licenses, it also comments on some additional issues that affect the efficient utilization of Calgary s taxi fleet. The recommendations include; 1. That TLAC, LTS, and the taxi industry adopt a strategy of increasing late night taxi supply by increasing driver (and passenger) safety in serving bar-closing hours on weekends. 2. That Calgary adopts an annual process where TLAC advises Council on whether additional taxis are necessary. Advice from TLAC should be based on a published formula combined with an assessment of current economic and structural conditions in the industry. 3. To advise Calgary City Council, TLAC should adopt a taxi per capita formula modified to account for the increasing number of elderly and persons with disabilities projected for Calgary s population. 4. That TLAC advise Council on required taxis based on a guideline formula with a lower bound and an upper bound defined as follows: Lower bound: 13.2 taxis per 10,000 population (the ratio today) Upper bound: 12.3 taxis for every 10,000 Calgarians under age 65, and 22.0 for every 10,000 Calgarians age 65+. In addition, that TLAC s advice be further informed by the volume and service data provided by taxi companies as will be defined in Phase II of this report. 5. That Calgary s administration resolves the issue of downtown taxi stalls by: taking into account the positive impact of convenient taxi stands on public transit usage and reduced demand for parking and road infrastructure, and clarifying the facts concerning the reduction of downtown taxi stand locations in light of the detailed list provided by the industry. 6. That Calgary target achieving 11% of the taxi fleet as wheelchair accessible. Until this target is achieved, all newly issued licenses should be for accessible taxis only. After the target is achieved, 11% of new licenses should be for accessible taxis. Maintaining an 11% share should be sufficient for Calgary to offer service to wheelchair users that is reasonably comparable to the service offered other customers.

4 Page 4 of 7 7. That Calgary considers awarding a portion of any new accessible plates to brokers in exchange for requiring that the taxis be available for late night service. Since taxis inevitably experience downtime, such an arrangement should be in lots of two at minimum, with the requirement that at least one of the two be in service on any given night. The Phase II report addresses measurable service standards and recommends a regular reporting structure wherein taxi companies licensed by the City can provide relevant performance and volume information to the to the City of Calgary. The recommendations include; 1. That the City of Calgary establishes a regime of regular monthly reporting by taxi brokerages of a key statistics necessary for the good management of the taxicab regulatory regime. 2. That the City of Calgary implements the reporting framework outlined in Table 3 for the taxi brokers licensed under the Livery Transport Bylaw, and that the Manager of Livery Transport Services exercise discretionary power over: The mode and format of delivery of reports for each company; and Reasonable variation in the allowed times for compliance with the reporting framework, where application is made by an individual broker for reasons of operational necessity. 3. That the following exceptions be granted to the reporting framework of under Table 3: Brokers with less than 50 affiliated taxis need not comply. Currently licensed brokers lacking a computer dispatch system, and with 50 or more affiliated taxis at the time of the adoption of this policy, have three years to comply with all requirements. Such exemption would cease in the event of acquisition by or merger with another broker not exempt from the reporting requirements. New brokers licensed after the adoption of this policy who come to exceed 50 affiliated taxis have 120 days to comply. 4. That any establishment of taxi dispatch service standard be based on reference service levels achieved with the 2010/2011 taxi supply, and reported in the recommended reporting framework. In the meantime, a notional standard of telephone calls answered within two minutes and 85% of dispatch calls arriving within 15 minutes would be within the appropriate range for the City of Calgary s road network and fleet capacity.

5 Page 5 of 7 5. Consistent with the Phase I recommendation of increasing the number of wheel chair accessible taxis to 11% of the total fleet, the service standard for dispatch of accessible taxis should be based on achieving service comparable to general service 90% of the time. For example, if we expect 85% of general dispatch calls to arrive within 15 minutes, then expect accessible taxi requests to arrive with 15 minutes 77% of the time due to the smaller fleet. Telephone response time standards should be the same as for general service, as the same telephone system is shared by all types of calls. INVESTIGATION: ALTERNATIVES AND ANALYSIS At the 2011 September 16, Regular Meeting of TLAC, Livery Transport Services was directed by TLAC to prepare amendments to the Livery Transport Bylaw which would mandate to collection and reporting of the data outlined in table 3, Phase II Measurable Service Standards report to the Manager of LTS in a format and frequency approved by the Manager of LTS. The industry was given 12 months lead time in order to facilitate programming and implementation timelines to provide a comprehensive and complete data set. Additionally the requirement to include telephone response times also is included in a package of Bylaw amendments with a proposed implementation date of three (3) years to Livery Transport Services has completed that work and a draft bylaw amendment can be found in Attachment 3. Stakeholder Engagement, Research and Communication Industry Engagement Len Bellingham, President, Mayfair Taxi Aaron Bellingham, Mayfair Taxi Wayne Bill, Calgary Livery Association Hardial Dev, Calgary Cab Drivers Association Lakvir Singh Dehal, Delta Cab Kurt Enders, Vice President, Checker Yellow Cabs Rupinderpal Gill, Sr. Vice President, Calgary Cab Drivers Association Roger Richard, President, Associated Cabs Balwinder Sahota, Advance Cab Raj Pal Singh, United Cab Drivers Community Organization Engagement Josephy Clohessy, Chair, Calgary Hotel Association Janet Jessiman, Downtown Pedestrian Mall Manager, Calgary Downtown Association Maggie Schofield, Executive Director, Calgary Downtown Association Tom Mercik, Voters for Taxi Brian Partington, Director, Land & Transportation Development, Calgary Airport Authority, Aldon Wells, Vice President Finance & Corporate Affairs, Tourism Calgary

6 Shawnah Whittaker, Manager, Ground Transportation and Parking, Airport Authority Page 6 of 7 Civic and Regulatory Engagement Gail Anderson, Taxi Limousine Advisory Committee (TLAC) D Arcy Walsh, Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Taxi Limousine Advisory Committee (TLAC) Leila Gosselin, Legal Counsel, Livery Transport Services (LTS) Marc Halat, Manager, Livery Transport Services (LTS) Jodi Hughes, Licensing Coordinator, LTS Troy McLeod, Manager of Traffic, City of Calgary Rick Morris, Centre City Team & Senior Transportation Planner, City of Calgary John Popplestone, Inspector, Livery Transport Services Karim Rayani, Manager, Access Calgary Leanne Squair, Issue Strategist, Advisory Committee on Accessibility, City of Calgary Lorna Wallace, Project Manager, Centre City Team, City of Calgary Participants in the Research of Peer Cities Constable Kevin Barker, James Bisson, Manager, Mobile Licensing Enforcement, City of Mississauga Jeannine Brands, Transportation Engineer, Bureau of Franchise & Taxicab Regulation, Los Angeles Department of Transportation Robert Benford, Division Manager, Regulatory Affairs Division, Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department, City of Houston Mark Dimuantes, Senior Policy & Research Officer, Policy and Planning Services, Municipal Licensing and Standards, City of Toronto Tom Drischler, Acting Chief, Bureau of Franchise & Taxicab Regulation, Los Angeles Department of Transportation Frank Fiacco, Coordinator of Licensing, City of Regina Phil Fearon, Director, Business Licence Section, City of Edmonton Tom Hammel Assistant Director & Deputy Chief Licence Inspector, City of Vancouver Michael McGee, Manager Policy and Communications, Passenger Transportation Board Joan Wilson, Secretary, Manitoba Taxicab Board Linda Anderson, Chief, Bylaw and Regulatory Services Terry Willert, Chief of Transportation, Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Strategic Alignment The mandated purpose of the TLAC includes providing advice and recommendations to Council to ensure high quality taxi and limousine services and to create and maintain a sustainable industry as specified in Bylaw 6M2007. The objective is to ensure public safety, service quality and consumer protection for customers and service providers. The TLAC will follow the direction of Council by responding to Council requests and making recommendations to City Council.

7 Page 7 of 7 Specific responsibilities related to this report include: To assist the taxi and limousine industry to work with The City to build upon and strengthen an integrated, healthy taxi and limousine industry, and help make the personal transportation system in Calgary more efficient and effective for all users and providers; To review all recommendations of The City of Calgary administration related to the taxi and limousine industry prior to presentation to Council; Annually in consultation with City of Calgary administration, to make recommendations to Council on all issues related to the number of license plates and vehicles on the road, fares, rates and fees for taxi and limousines and the related businesses; Risk Assessment No risks were identified as a result of the proposed recommendations REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S): Direction provided by Council to ensure the TLAC that Administration work with TLAC to research the taxi supply/demand ratio in the City of Calgary, including establishing a formula based on a per capita indicator, for when new licenses are required. ATTACHMENT(S) 1. Hara Associates Taxi Supply Demand Ratio for the City of Calgary Phase I: Assessment of Current Service 2. Hara Associates Taxi Supply Demand Ratio for the City of Calgary Phase II: Measurable Service Standards 3. Proposed Livery Transport Bylaw 6M2007 Amendments 4. Voters for Taxis Submission Regarding Taxi Supply Demand Ratio Phase II: Measurable Service Standards (2011 July 30) 5. VFT Presentation at TLAC 2011 August 19 re VFT to Hara Submission 6. Calgary Livery Association Presentation Regarding Taxi Supply Demand Ratio Phase II: Measurable Service Standards