Taxi News Facebook page your opportunity to comment

Update November 28, 2024: This column originally ran on July 12, 2024 and is being re-posted in advance of the December 3rd release of Toronto’s Vehicle for Hire report.

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There are lots of people with lots of thoughts, opinions, comments, questions and feedback to share with each other, with Taxi News, with politicians and civil servants and other groups in Summer 2024.

Whew.

That’s why it makes me so happy to let everyone know that the Taxi News Facebook page, which has actually existed in mothballs for a couple of years, has officially been launched to facilitate conversations and posts during the period of Toronto’s Vehicle for Hire Review and afterwards.

For readers wondering why Taxi News hasn’t simply allowed them to comment at the bottom of articles as they read them, there is an unfortunate answer. In the past, I managed other websites which permitted readers to make comments directly on the site.

To my dismay, I discovered that in addition to readers’ comments, the sites received thousands and thousands of hits from hackers around the globe. Basic security technologies were not enough to prevent the hackers from sending endless, ridiculous comments and offers.

Sadly, after I hired and paid a consultant to clean up the site and eliminate all the nonsense deposited by hackers, I decided to follow some basic online publishing industry advice and disallow all comments.

I was disappointed when I had to disallow comments for Taxi News, the publication which has served as a centre of communications and debate for the industry since 1985. First under founder Peter Zahakos and then under long-time publisher John Duffy, I knew that Taxi News was important to a lot of people who have invested entire life times and endless effort in the industry. Their common sense comments and observations were often as interesting as the articles and politicians’ comments (sometimes, more interesting).

However, as I opted to purchase the paper and go fully digital in the middle of COVID-19 when the world was in chaos, I decided that doing a good job with basic reporting was more important than attempting to be on the bleeding edge of technology during the transition phase. I think those goals have been achieved.

Observing how, when, and where groups are having the most luck sharing comments and opinions so far up to 2024, I have decided that the time is right to kick up the Taxi News Facebook page, upon which readers will be welcomed and encouraged to offer thoughts, comments and opinions. (This is in addition to the “X” or Twitter handle we’ve used to share daily headlines since 2021.)

This may be particularly timely, of course, as we are one month in to Toronto’s Vehicle for Hire Review. Taxi News’ coverage of the five public consultations sessions (all covered by myself or Christian Zdravko) is posted to the Taxi News website, of course; and now shared to Facebook, where you can feel free to leave comments. Comments need to be respectful, and some of them may get pulled into Taxi News articles if the reader expresses something particularly thoughtful or helpful.

Additionally, it is becoming very obvious that the rideshare industry is going to morph with the Taxi industry in the months and years ahead. Rideshare drivers’ pleas for transparent and minimum fares; City-managed licensing; and caps on entry to the market are all hallmarks of the Taxi industry that made Toronto’s ground transportation system successful in the past and will need to be re-introduced in the future. Taxi News’ Facebook page will provide a platform for these ideas and debates too.

So please share the Facebook page link with your friends, associates and co-workers. Here’s hoping we can get the comments, without the hackers!