Alex Reid

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A new documentary We Live in Public which screens today at the Sundance Film Festival follows Josh Harris, a dot com entrepreneur turned artist as he explored media, technology and social interaction at the turn of the century.

Martin Cash of The Winnipeg Free Press reports that the two largest taxicab companies in Winnipeg (owning 91% of the 410 cabs on the streets) are applying for more licenses despite opposing over 800 licenses of the same license applications made by other much smaller and start-up cab companies last summer (many cab companies only have one car). The largest application was made by a newly formed co-operative of disgruntled drivers for 150 licenses.

Cash also reported on this frustration several weeks ago when a disgruntled cab driver who was applying for 50 licenses called the two companies “a cartel”. Not helping so much with the label, the biggest opponent against his applications was Sidney Soronow – lawyer for both Unicity Taxi and Duffy’s Taxi – who argued that more cabs would “destroy the industry” and that “the health of the industry is at stake.”

Yet here they are asking for more licenses.

The belief of Unicity Taxi and Duffy’s Taxi is that if more licenses are going to be granted by the Taxicab Board (a provincial regulator) they should go to them. It’s a bit arrogant and certainly not in the best interests of a free market to continue to allow two companies (out of dozen companies) to control over 90% of the cabs on the road. And to add insult to injury (to the smaller companies) is that there is a rumour that Unicity Taxi and Duffy’s Taxi may shelve any new licenses.

Taxicab licenses in Winnipeg are much coveted at an average re-sale price of $220,000, the highest going for $285,000. [source]

The smaller cab companies claim there is more demand for taxis, while Unicity Taxi and Duffy’s Taxi say December is their busiest month (this doesn’t mean other months aren’t busy), so really the key to the supply/demand argument here is demand. CBC reported last year that Winnipeg has a low availability of taxis per capita in comparison to other Canadian cites.

If consumers (taxi customers) had a way to voice their complaints, the primary complain being that they are waiting too long for cabs or that they are generally unhappy with the service already offered by the two leading taxi companies, then the Taxicab Board might be impressed to allow more competition into the market.