THE North Shore i is
pioneering its own
episodes of On the
Buses.

Better make that minibus-
es.

"And you had better clarify
here that there are a lor
more people on the buses
than off,

Some are literally on

“them as a transit alternative.

Some are just down on
the buses.

Most occupants of the
fatter camp are in the local
taxi trade.

Cabbies have good reason
to be down on minibuses:
they are making inroads into
their North Shore market

and those inroads could be -
getting deeper soon.

_ After spending 18 months
trying to win approval for its

* subsidy-free door-to-door
aminibus service in Vancouver
City, Super Shurtle Local
Minibus was launched on
the. North Shore last August.

‘The shared-ride service is
aimed at providing North
Shore residents with an_alter-
native to the high cost of

. cabs ‘and the rigid routes of
transit buses. a

’- But cabbies see the'ser-
owice.as a backend ran to
secure new Lower Mainland

_ taxi licences — those licences. :
being hard to come’ by in the
best of times,and, once ,
‘secured, worth anywhere .
from: $50, 000 up to
$300, 000 and beyond 3.

“depending on which: area ‘the:
cab licence services.

-Cabbies ‘and their legal
counsel have therefore been
trending local councils
recently banging the.ant
inibus drum:lo d and.

“. vehicles and explore i its’ ‘role

yarns

They say Super Shuttle
minibuses are not bound by
_ such Motor Cartier
Commission (MCC) safe-
guards as driver screening
and English language and
area knowledge require-
ments, ‘

But if vou have taken a
ride in a cab of late you
might well wonder if those

quality controls are in place *

in cabs anyways.

Ina Jan. 6 News story,
for example, North Shore
“resident Moira McCrea
summed up the attitude of a
lot of cab customers these
days: “When they (North:
Vancouver’s Sunshine Cabs)

- ‘started out they offered

chauffeur-like service, bur
now their drivers don’t

understand English and {

have to give directions to
Edgemont Village.”

‘Taxi company suspicions
aside, minibus proponenits
will tell you that the service
fills a market need long...

« Negleeted by the taxi busi

s ness.

Way back’ in 1998, for
example, Donald
. Johannessen, then MCC,
_ chairman, told cabbies at a

“Taxi B.C. Convention that
the industry needed to be

more innovative
Needed to provide such

‘services as unmetered taxis,

* lintos, wheelchair accessible

in public transit.

A cheap shared ride
option fits right into the
chairman’s viston.

But not many cab compa-
nies were listening.
Innovation and quality con-
trol were not priorities.

Thus in 1997, when the
Motor Vehicle Branch
inspected the Lower
Mainland’s 1,186-vehicle

_taxi Heer, 30% were inimedi-

ately raken out of service
because of safety concerns.
But there are flies, too, in
the minibus gravy.
One is thar: without MCC
approval, minibuses can’t

“Cabbies have
good reason to
be down:on
minibuses: they
are making
inroads into their
North Shore

market...

transport passengers across
municipal boundaries.
On the North Shore; that

makes for some tricky com- if

plications.

Currently Super Shuttle/,
passengers are technically”
required to, disembark from
their minibus, walk across
North.Vancouver City or
District boundaries‘and
reboard on the other side of
the municipal botindary.

Now if theré’s anyone

‘out there whd believes that
“actually happens, TL have:

live,

some Fiurida swampland you
might be interested in.

The three Neth Shore
municipalities are currently
lobbying the MICC in sup-
port of the Super Shurtle-
style service so that the
municipal boundary issue
would be one more bale of
red tape thar it and its pas-
sengers don’t have to navi-
gate.

And last Tuesday, Nerth
Vancouver City amended its
Cab Regulation Bylaw to
recognize and regulate the |
shared-ride minibus style of
service as a transit alterna-

So all three North Shore
Dunicipatities are decidedly
On the Buses,

The more troubling fyi in
the local minibus gravy, I
however, is fares.

Super Shute charges a
flat rate of $3.50 to takeia
single passenger anywhere in
North Vancouver City or
District.

Add a $1 for each addi
tional minibus passenger —
up to six — and you hir a!
top end of $8.30 shared. six
ways, which i is not much of a
t ‘op end.

This past week the Super

Shuttle expanded its opera-

tion into West Vancouver.

With its pan-North Shore
territory secured, the compa-
ny will tack on additional
cross-zone charges: another
$1 per zone per passenger
per trip:

That remains a pretty

‘good deal, however, consid-

ering that a ride ina local
cab from Deep Cove to
Horseshoe Bay costs alittle
over $30. And a ride in a

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Expires Feb. 10/99 ,

Sunday, January 31, 1999 ~ North Shore News - 7

larket need

transit bus connecting these
two points is ridiculously
complex, i inconvenient and
time- consuming.

But it’s doubtful that.the
fare structure is such a good
deal for Super Shuttle,

In-a News story fast
October, Shuttle consultant
Alee Caruth conceded that it
would rake a minimum of
three fares per trip fora
minibus to break even,

Passenger volume then is
the key in this shared ride,
means of transport.

And without said volume?

Look deeper into your
wallets, minibus riders. :

Super Shattle’s $3.50 flat .

rate was based on rojected
Vancouver City volume, ,

which doesn’t really apply to:

North: Vancouver's much
lower population density,

So once the Super Shuttle»

secures approval to crass \,
municipal lines and moves *.
closer to being a taxi compa
ny, Pd wager its fares will
increase substantially, The
size of that increase will
determine its long- term suc
cess,

The North Shore: needs a
taxi and. bus alternative for
low income and fixed
income residents

Ina Jot of cases cabs are
over-priced and under-

whelming when'it comes to
service and transportation
dollar value. And ina lot of
circumstances, buses are far
roo inconvenient for 2 lot of
people.

So rhe minibus revolution
reflects a market reality that
the MCC would be foolish
to reject,

On the Minibuses is a
North Shore production that
could have a long-running
engagement here and else-
where.

Bur it remains to be seen
whether Super Shuttle Local
Minibus will continue to
play the lead role in that
production. .

god.

And whiter we are on the
subject. of transportation and
dollar value:

West Vancouver Coun:
Russ Fraser recently retloat-
ed the idea ofa West

: Vancouver-to- Vancouver pas-

enger ferry link to help case.

the looming traffic chaos
‘thar will accompany the

Lions Gate Bridge upgrade.
sood thought, Russ. I

‘council is looking for a Jim

Dandy vessel’ to ply that
route today there’s a fast
ferry docked in Nanaimo ~
thac’s-nor doing much right’
now,
7 trenshaw@direct.ca
1 .

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