The owner of Studabakers says it’s only a matter of time before downtown bars and restaurants are forced out of business because of “ridiculous” wait times for customers looking for a safe ride home.
Joe Winacott penned a letter to city council recently outlining his concerns - concerns that many in the downtown share, he said.
“No one wants anyone drinking and driving, but the lack of available rides is possibly making people make bad decisions or not come out anymore,” said Winacott. .
“I reached out to other downtown restaurants and they all have the same concerns. Business is down,” he said.
Winacott said customers are not going out as much because there is no overnight parking available downtown, no ride-share services and a dearth of taxis.
Winacott said local taxi companies tend to focus their service on Casino Rama clients because they can make more money on a trip to Rama. That leaves customers, literally, out in the cold.
Winacott recently learned of the problems first-hand. One night, he waited 45 minutes for a cab. On another night, he waited 45 minutes again - only to have someone else jump in ‘his’ cab. That stretched his wait a further 30 minutes.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Winacott. “Wanting to go home for 10:30 and not getting home til (midnight) is not what our downtown needs. I don’t even want to go out anymore as I don’t want to wait that long to get home,” he said in his letter to city councillors.
And without changes, he worries it will get worse.
“With West Ridge building up so fast and pretty much a new restaurant every month opening, it will only be a matter of time that you see your downtown restaurants close up,” said Winacott.
Coun. Rob Kloostra said Monday night he has endured similar issues and believes the city needs to address the issue.
“There are not enough taxi cabs in the City of Orillia when there’s an event at the casino,” said Kloostra.
“I think this is a problem this council should try to address and have a little more options for citizens,” he said, noting the city should “look at other services like Uber and Lyft” to give “our residents a little more choice to get home safely.”
City CAO Gayle Jackson said a report on this issue is being finalized and will be presented to council Feb. 3.
That report was initiated by Mayor Steve Clarke last April.
Earlier, the municipality decided to open the door to drive-share services like Uber - with a critical caveat that called for potential Uber drivers, like Orillia’s taxi drivers, to undergo a vulnerable sector check before obtaining a licence to operate.
Essentially, Uber said no to that request and has blacked out service on its app to Orillia.
In the wake of that decision, Clarke said he had heard “from an inordinate number of people” about this issue.
Clarke, like the majority of his council colleagues, said he originally lobbied for and supported the vulnerable sector check due to safety concerns of potential customers.
But because of the backlash, he asked for and won support from council to have staff investigate the feasibility of removing the vulnerable sector screening requirement for both taxi drivers and transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft.
Coun. Ted Emond successfully lobbied to include an additional request for staff to “provide options and opportunities for late night transportation” as part of its report to council.
“I am of the belief too many people in our community are putting the onus on the fact that we’ve got this problem because Uber has made the decision not to serve our community because of the vulnerable sector check,” said Emond in explaining his rationale for the additional request.
“Personally, I’m not willing to trade off inconvenience for protection for vulnerable people,” said the Ward 1 councillor. “I don’t think they have the same weight.”
He also said “there are innovative solutions emerging” and that Lyft and others should be canvassed.
“It would be useful to ensure we’re not dealing with the symptom of the problem,” said Emond. “The vulnerable sector check is laid out as the symptom and may not be the issue.”
The report from Shawn Crawford, the city’s manager of legislative services, will be presented to city councillors on Feb. 3.
