By Ashley Wiebe

Demand down for cabs

Jan 3, 2019 | 2:19 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Many Hatters were out on New Year’s Eve, saying goodbye to 2018 and celebrating the new year, but getting home after midnight wasn’t easy for everyone.

“New Year’s Eve is, without a doubt, our busiest night of the year and wait times unfortunately, midnight ‘till 3 a.m., can get pretty long,” said Doug Glock, general manager of Care Cabs.

That’s not the way Glock likes doing business.

“There’s no alternative,” he said. “We have every vehicle out here that we have New Year’s Eve, barring a break down or something like that,” he added.

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Every vehicle, meaning all of his 33 cabs were on the road., helping numerous people who were out, ringing in the New Year, get home safe.

But not everyone was happy.

“You always get a few complaints the following day, not a lot, but people who don’t understand,” he said. “And we explain to them that it’s just New Year’s Eve and there’s nothing we can do, other than our best.”

“According to the quota, there’s 79 standard taxis, they’re part of the quota, and then there’s two accessible taxis as well,” said Hank Claussen, business license inspector for the city of Medicine Hat.

According to the city bylaw, there’s expected to be one taxi license for every 800 residents, a number from 2012 based on the average seen across Alberta.

With the exception of New Year’s Eve, taxi’s aren’t consistently busy throughout the year and business has slowed down.

“Going through the recession and things like that, Medicine Hat is still suffering a bit,” Claussen added. “They say that they’re not as busy as they use to be.”

Glock said the mild winter weather also hasn’t been helping.

“A lot of people are uncomfortable driving in the winter, cars don’t start and it’s pretty nice getting into a warm cab, rather than sweeping a car off and getting into a cold car,” he said.

While the demand is high on a night like New Year’s Eve, there’s not enough demand to have more cabs.

Ride sharing companies, or transportation network companies as they’re called in Alberta, could be another option, but it’s not something the city is currently considering.

“We have not been approached by any of the TNC companies in Medicine Hat,” Claussen said.

Glock said companies like Uber and Lyft may work well in bigger cities, but he’s not convinced they would have the same impact here.

“And in the end, it would hurt existing companies, that’s for sure,” he said.

For a busy night, Claussen suggests planning ahead and adds cabs aren’t the only option.

“There is some other alternatives as well out there, so we do have two companies that are called designated drivers, so they will pick up your car and you and take you home,” he said.

It’s another choice, so that driving yourself home isn’t one.