Enrolment drops for taxi classes at Algonquin College

The City of Ottawa requires would-be taxi drivers to take training courses before getting behind the wheel but an Algonquin College instructor saysenrolment in classes has dropped because ofthe ride-hailing appUber.

Algonquin College has been offering taxi training courses for decades and continues to do so, but demand has plummeted resulting in cancelled classes.

"In the last year, enrolment has declined, we've actually had to cancel a few courses, and we're getting probably 40 per cent of what we got before," said Darson Hall, a teacher in the taxi driving training program at the college.

"Most people are blaming ride-sharing [services] like Lyft and Uber."

Algonquin College offers a three-week taxi training course focusing on customer service, knowledge of the area and working with customers with disabilities, at a cost of about$1,200.

'There's some anger'

The arrival on the roads of the ride-hailing company Uberhas changed the direction of paid transportation.

Now anyone with a GPS thinks they can drive people around, Hall said, and that has left his students wondering about the benefits of the course and the future of the industry.

"You know there's some anger, and some people aren't becoming cab drivers because they can make quick cash just driving for Uber, you can sign up in just a day or something," said Hall.

Although the city's bylaw officers have been handing out fines to Uber drivers, the popularity of the service continues to grow.

Hall said taxi drivers are waiting to see what further action the city will take.

"You look around the world and in some ways it seems like an unstoppable situation. You know, you can pass all the laws you want, but if a big company like Uber doesn't want to follow them, they're not going to."

The City of Ottawa says it will release its report on taxi and limousine regulation at the end of March.