To: City of Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson

I would like to call your attention to a matter that is occurring within the taxi industry in the City

of Vancouver. This under the table activity has been occurring for many years and has upset

many taxicab drivers and customers.

The activity I mention is a bribe. A bribe paid to a doorman or a hotel staff in the form of a $5

bill to pick up a fare going to the airport. In certain hotels, whenever a hotel guest is in need of

taxi to the airport, some individual in the hotel staff calls a phone number. This phone number

connects to a taxicab driver, and this driver comes to the location and hands the caller a $5 bill

and picks up the passengers and takes the passengers to the airport, regardless if there are taxis in

front of the hotel or in the taxi zone.

This has become a network within Vancouver Taxi. To many taxicab drivers it is known as a “$5

airport trip” in which a taxicab driver pays to pick up an airport fair. At many times the driver

jumps the line at a taxi stand or in special cases picks up the fare at a rear alley or a loading dock.

In fact it has become such an advanced network that one person operates it and has gives these

trips to other drivers that are associated with him. Particularly at the helm is the driver of V53 of

Vancouver Taxi, who along with his associates runs this sophisticated network with immunity.

For a while this happened, until the Board of Management at Vancouver Taxi became aware of

this occurring. However, instead of curtailing this network and swiftly prohibiting it, the Board

of Management became involved in the network and has participated in it from time to time and

not a single effort to ban such a network was made. To a point when certain Board Members

spoke up against this, they were simply kicked off the board and even the manager has been

incapacitated by the Board when enacting against this issue.

As this network grew and Management failed to respond to it, the network became complex to

avoid detection. At times customers would be escorted to unsafe back alleys, since their where

taxicab drivers waiting at the stands. To go unnoticed of the ludicrous earnings and to avoid

paying excessive taxes, these taxicab drivers zero the taxi meter and do not hand in a trip at the

end of the shift as required per law. Corruption is so rampant that the company dispatchers

receive a pay off as well.

This network has rigged the whole taxi industry of Vancouver. Many drivers are disgruntled and

distraught of raising their voices over and over again and lack of effort from the Board of

Management. In simple terms it’s unfair for the taxicab drivers, the consumers, and most of all

the City of Vancouver.

Many drivers waiting aimlessly at a taxi stand for hours or in front of hotels for a trip would be

front loaded or back loaded by this network and have to wait longer for a trip. My encounter with

this network came on 14 August 2014, I picked up a dispatch: an 8:30am time call for two vans

at the Barclay Hotel at 1431 Robson Street going to the airport. I was driving car V56, and was

the first to arrive at 8:28am. Momentarily car V44 then V36 arrived hastily.

At first I was taken aback and began to wonder why an extra van showed up, since the dispatch

was for two vans only.

Shortly its 8:30am, I again began to wonder that the passengers have not come out of the hotel.

Then the driver for car V44 approaches me and asks me whether there was a ship in today and

make small talk. Next he asked me who sent me here, he asks “did car V53 send you here?” as to

imply that V53 had brokered the “$5 airport trip”. I replied dispatch and showed him the

dispatch; then he asks me that did I know V53, I reply no. Later he requests me to go inside and

becomes persistent.

Everything became suspicious when: the driver for car V44 tried to force me to go inside the

hotel and pay off the hotel staff. I became astonished at this moment and began to think first it’s

a dispatch and now V44 is forcing me to pay the hotel staff to pick up the trip to the airport. Not

only that but he persistently insisted that I go inside the hotel and talk the hotel staff after I had

refused. Under no circumstance had I the reason whatsoever to leave my place of work and go

enter the lobby of the hotel. For safety concerns and to avoid a confrontation with anyone, I

choose not to step outside the vehicle.

In reply to V44’s prompt, I made him understand that I was dispatched to the address and first to

arrive at the site, and wasn’t about to engage in this “$5 airport trip sale”. Then V44 becomes

sympathetic in his tone and became agreeable and understanding.

Thereafter I see both V44 and V36 go inside the hotel, and then my dispatch gets suspiciously

cancelled.

It was an airport trip that was bought for $5. Since I did not ‘buy in’ dispatch cancelled my trip.

It’s a nuisance, this “$5 airport trips”.

Taken the higher ground, I rebook in the zone and got another dispatch. I wanted to stay and

confront both drivers in front of the customers as they loaded luggage for the airport, however I

decided not to since this would have resulted in defacing our company Vancouver Taxi, and for

the customers to lose faith in the taxi industry after seeing two taxicab drivers arguing.

Not only I myself am distraught with this occurring, but the all the taxicab drivers in the city of

Vancouver. Every driver knows about this ‘$5 airport trip’ occurring in Vancouver Taxi and

most of all the ineptness of the Board of Management at Vancouver Taxi.

It is an outrageous notion that the Board of Management at Vancouver Taxi has failed time and

time again to prohibit and reprimand such heinous buying of “$5 airport trips” within Vancouver

Taxi. In fact it is simply scandalous that the Board of Management has allowed for this activity

to occur without an effort to curtail this network. This network has become so notorious that all

the drivers of city of Vancouver are disgusted at Board of Management of Vancouver. In fact it

is now a known among taxicab drivers of Vancouver that the Board of Management also benefits

and is involved engages in this activity to its highest level.

The Board of Management at Vancouver Taxi should be ashamed of being in a position of

authority and power and to take advantage and betraying the trust of its own taxicab drivers.

Simply this is unfair to all the taxicab drivers of Vancouver.

As cited in the New York post “16 JFK taxi dispatchers busted for taking bribes from queue-

jumpers”; dispatchers where arrested for taking bribes from taxicab drivers. However within the

By-laws of City of Vancouver there is no notion of commercial bribes. The City of Vancouver is

being robbed of its taxes and fair competition. The majority of taxicab drivers and I, after the

Managing board at Vancouver Taxi has failed us; request the City of Vancouver cease this

network and to make By-laws to making it a punishable offense to buy “$5 airport trips” and to

bring fairness and equality to all taxis operating within Vancouver, to the consumers and most

of all to the City of Vancouver.

Sincerely,

Harpreet Sandhu