What time is it? What DAY is it?
That light you’re seeing outside is dawn, not dusk.
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Submission to Toronto’s Vehicle for Hire By-law Review by Neil Robert Shorey
Driver Training: After eliminating 50 years of consumer protections in the original Vehicle for Hire By-law, we now see an endless wave of consumer complaints about dirty or mechanically unfit vehicles; the general public is unaware of who really is behind the wheel of their vehicle for hire; and the public wonders why some rides cost more than others for the exact same ride?
I could go on and on. There used to be mandatory twice per year DOT inspections. There used to be sealed meters. There used to be a clear system of identification for who was driving. There used to be a 3-week taxi training course for drivers run by the City of Toronto. These are all gone.
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Back to the future as Toronto Council chooses mean streets over consumer protection
In 2019, after the death of Nicholas Cameron in an Uber with an untrained driver, Toronto Council directed staff to reinstate a driver testing and training program. While staff blame COVID for the fact that no training program has yet been launched, 40,000 new professional drivers were licensed without testing during this period.
This is worth re-stating: Toronto Council directed staff to design and implement a training program 27 months ago. No action has been taken: no program designed, no Request for Proposals issued to training suppliers, no outreach to Centennial College, which already offers Taxi driver training.
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Being sent to the Facebook gulag
I am counting down the days, or perhaps only hours, until I get sent to the Facebook gulag. I don’t really care.
I first joined the Facebook club back around 2007 out of curiosity; I had already been blogging for some years. After toying around with Facebook for a while, looking for old acquaintances, “poking” people, and getting digital Tim Horton rims from strangers I decided to move on. This type of nonsense wasn’t for me.
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By-law written for rideshare companies is not working for rideshare drivers: protest today at Uber head office
Staff at the City of Toronto are currently developing an update report to the General Government and Licensing Committee in November. The report is intended to speak to work completed since the last Vehicle-for-Hire Bylaw Review and outstanding Council directives (including a driver training program that is now two years late).
Ironically, as this report is being written, drivers for the corporation which motivated virtually all of the changes to Toronto’s taxi regulatory in 2016 are now protesting that very entity, Uber.
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Helping each other like we were all Old School…sure would be nice
It’s a Mexico truck with a non-English speaking driver. I had seen this guy sitting there in the middle of the parking lot 5 hours ago. Made a mental note and went about my day.
When I came back, he’s still there. Except this time, I see him tying logistic straps to his tow hook. I thought, “Ok, something up and nobody’s helping him.”
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A life well lived
Photo: “A life well lived” by Mike Murchison There are times when we catch ourselves asking the question “Why am I doing this? What is the end result of long days, hard roads and tired bodies?” Doesn’t matter what we
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Wall-to-wall propaganda and fraud
So, I started asking questions in “class.” The instructor answered my questions in exactly the same manner as Justin Trudeau answers questions about Climate Change or COVID-19; after a while, I could tell he was getting annoyed with me.
I don’t remember how long I attended these “training” sessions – two or three days, but on the last day I had made my assessment. The unit might be effective at filtering the air, but there was absolutely no evidence that it would get rid of dust mites, nor reduce severe outcomes for children with asthma. It was a con job. I could not see myself preying upon desperate parents with sick children. I quit.
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Away from home, avoiding trouble
There is, and always has been, the open invitation go get into trouble. It lies there in waiting, just around the corner for the unsuspecting Driver away from home.
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