Dear Editor:
Re: Taxi Firms Must Adapt or Accept Their Fate, Oct. 31 mailbox.
In response to the (letter writer's) complaints about North Shore Taxi in support of Uber: I am a non-driver who is taxi dependent and have never had a complaint about their service. My transportation consists of my legs, bus or taxis which has proven to be far cheaper than owning a car. I have never waited longer than 10 minutes for a taxi. When referring to the lack of safety specific to taxis never being available, did the writer do his research about the North Shore Taxi account services? People can get an account so they can be picked up in Vancouver from the North Shore and billed later. This alleviates a huge amount of worry for parents concerned about youth getting home safely from the downtown night clubs at 3 a.m. Stop to consider for a moment that many cab drivers are new Canadians, with high levels of education and skill, who cannot find suitable jobs in our country. And the allegation that taxi drivers use cellphones when driving is false. They work very long hours, have families too and may need to make calls to them - but never when driving. All the cars I have been in recently are new and so is their new pin pad payment system. Regarding the comment: "Just because they are trapped in an expensive regulated business model doesn't mean the customers should suffer." In a truly green world, shouldn't governments be providing incentives to assist such a highly-regulated and expensive business model, a business that helps people live without cars? Thank you North Shore Taxi for getting me around for all these years in the rainy season.
Elise Roberts
North Vancouver
