Has your income gone up 43% since 2003?

I almost drove off the road this afternoon when I heard that Ottawa taxi drivers are asking the city for a 2.5% fare increase. That isn't so bad, but did you know that taxi fares have gone up by 43% in this fair city since 2003? If this increase is approved, I believe a 10km taxi ride will cost $22 and that puts us in the #1 spot in all of Canada.

I just wrote a letter to two city councillors and the mayor - I know it will most likely get nothing more than a "thanks for your views" form e-mail, but still... they won't be able to say that NOBODY told them they were against the idea. Here's the letter - I just have to share because we have to start standing up and telling them we won't take this sort of thing anymore!

To my Councillor Mr. Chernushenko, Mayor Watson and Councillor Taylor:

The City has decided in recent years that it is going to support and encourage any mode of transport over personal motorized vehicles. I submit that it is rather impractical to ride a bicycle from downtown to just east of Arnprior or to just west of Rockland - it takes far too long yet those are where the city limits are found. Has anyone considered the sheer size of our city when trying to spend so much money on promoting the wonders of the bike? It's fine if you live within a 10km radius of downtown, but if you live anywhere else, to suggest that a bike is a commuter vehicle for the masses borders on delusional. OC Transpo service is acceptable if you're going to and from downtown during rush hour Monday to Friday but try to go from one random area of the city to another, and it is virtually impossible to do so in less time than it would take to drive... and that brings me to taxis - I can barely afford to take a taxi from downtown to the west end and back... at my salary - but imagine how a senior on a fixed income views the fact that taxi fares have jumped 43% in eight years and now they want another 2.5%?

When will the elected officials who purport to represent Ottawans stand up for Ottawans and tell these drivers that enough is enough?

Councillor Taylor recently said on CTV news that seniors living in his ward (the largest concentration of seniors in a given area in ALL of Canada), particularly those on McEwen Avenue, should try to schedule their medical appointments around the reduced OC Transpo bus schedules in their area OR to secure alternate methods of transportation (taxi, anyone?) when they demanded that the City reconsider its position on chopping bus service to their community. Anyone who is lucky enough to have a doctor knows that a patient hardly is in a position to dictate when they'll be seen - and if they need to see a specialist, they're lucky enough to get an appointment - to tell them to have that specialist bend to OC Transpo schedules to accommodate a patient is, with utmost respect, utterly ridiculous.

What really gets my goat is how candidates while campaigning or elected representatives during key times of the year pretend to be the great supporters of seniors by having quaint tea parties or by visiting retirement homes. For twenty years I have seen municipal, provincial and federal politicians launch inquiries and finance studies to see what seniors need, want, etc., and yet when these studies are completed and results are published, little if anything is ever done - other than starting the cycle over and over again... just like a soon to come Seniors Summit.

Mr. Mayor, you want to know how to save more money? Quit financing these studies (both within the city's bureaucracy and through grants or funding to organizations like the Senior Citizen's Council) and dust off those you've already paid for and see what they say. You'll only hear the same story year after year, decade after decade. Why keep throwing more money into the fire? Sure it makes for a great press release and it makes it look like the City (or province) cares, but when these studies yield nothing but reports and no results, who are you really fooling? Most people don't pay close enough attention, but those of us who do, we see it in spades and it drives us nuts. Again, Mr. Mayor, you spoke about Barbara Lajeunesse and myself on a number of occasions in the Ontario Legislature over the years, and I submit that Barbara could tell you more about what seniors need in this city than any report you could commission would ever tell you. She (and I!) will be more than happy to speak to you for free - we might even pay for lunch!

This brings me back to my original intent here - please bring some sort of sanity to committee/council when the time comes and shut down this latest (apparently) staff approved request to hike taxi fares by 2.5%. If they haven't been able to cope with a 43% increase in eight years, they need to re-examine their business model. The argument I just heard that there are more drivers than ever out there is a red herring - having fifteen taxis in front 2651 Regina Street doesn't do anyone any good if they can't afford to pay for them... and none of you can tell me truthfully that residents of that building (or most Ottawans for that matter) have seen their income increase by anything close to 43% since 2003.

Do what is right and help the people who elected you - stand up for us... and we'll stand up for you.

Take a minute or two and let your councillor and mayor know what you think too... it's your civic duty!