Documents filed in BC Supreme Court earlier this month have revealed further evidence that Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is seeking to replace its 16 taxicab pickup contracts with one exclusive contract.
The situation could result in a contract being awarded to a single company, creating a monopoly that would dominate the highly lucrative passenger pickup business at YVR.
Business in Vancouver first broke the story in September (�YVR cab fare fight looms – issue 1144; September 27-October 3) after Yellow Cab Co., the largest taxi company in the Lower Mainland, filed suit against the Lower Mainland Taxi Association (LMTA) and 12 of its members including Bonny�s Taxi, Coquitlam Taxi, Delta Sunshine Taxi, Guildford Cab, Kimber Cabs, Newton Whalley Hi Way Taxi, North Shore Taxi, Richmond Cabs, Royal City Taxi, Sunshine Cabs, Surdell Kennedy Taxi and White Rock South Surrey Taxi.
Yellow claimed in the suit that it had been cut out of a highly competitive bid process for pickup licences at YVR thanks to the illegal actions of the association and an opaque bidding process at YVR.
The original notice of civil claim alleged the airport authority told LMTA members (including Yellow Cab) that it would prefer a �common concession for passenger pickup at YVR� beginning next March.
A notice of response filed November 1 has also alleged that in the summer of 2010, Sat Gill, manager of YVR Ground Transportation, indicated the airport authority would prefer to deal with one contract for passenger pickup beginning next year instead of the current arrangement, which includes 16 separate companies and contracts.
YVR would not confirm if it was looking to award a single contract.
�Vancouver airport authority continues to investigate options related to the future of taxi service here at YVR, and this includes ongoing conversations with all existing operators,� an airport spokesman wrote in an email. �If and when any decisions are made, the airport authority will communicate them directly with our business partners.�
LMTA members collectively hold 426 licences that authorize cabbies to pick up passengers at YVR.
Court documents estimate the annual cost to run the passenger pickup program at YVR totals $1.8 million. and that the airport, at a minimum, wants to recoup the costs through an exclusive contract.
Jan Broocke, director of the Passenger Transportation Board, which oversees the licensing of taxis in B.C., said YVR can negotiate a new pickup contract on its own as long as the companies bidding on the contract already have pickup licences at the airport.��
