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Taxi drivers concerned about after hours violence

Taxi loop becoming more chaotic for drivers and customers The unprovoked assault of a Whistler taxi driver more than two weeks ago was the final straw for a group of local cab drivers, who feel that the taxi loop off Village Gate Boulevard is out of

Taxi loop becoming more chaotic for drivers and customers

The unprovoked assault of a Whistler taxi driver more than two weeks ago was the final straw for a group of local cab drivers, who feel that the taxi loop off Village Gate Boulevard is out of control. They have written a number of letters to this paper, stating the problems and asking for help with the situation.

The incident took place on March 9 after 2 a.m. While two groups were arguing over who was there first, the driver, who asked to remain unidentified, was dragged out of his car by an unknown assailant and punched repeatedly for over a minute. The driver was rescued when someone finally pulled the attacker off.

The RCMP were called at least three times, but did not arrive until after the assailant had left the scene. He is described as stout with short brown hair and a puffy jacket.

The driver was not seriously injured but had a black eye and a swollen cheek, as well as various minor cuts and bruises. Other cabs attempted to follow the suspect, but were unable to track him down.

"I don’t know what happened," said the driver. "I might have nudged him with the car or passed him when he was trying to flag me down or something, people are constantly jumping in front of your vehicle. He just pulled me out and started punching me."

While this was a first for the driver, he says fights between bar goers in the loop – men and women – are almost a nightly occurrence, although the situation is far worse on weekends. Drivers have been hit before and cars have been vandalized by angry crowds kicking doors, mirrors and lights.

Cab drivers pull to the front of the crowd to allow other taxis to pull up behind them, and to try to keep the crowd from spilling out of the loop onto Village Gate Boulevard. They have no idea who was there first.

"People are already waiting at the lights, trying to hail cabs before they get into the loop to try and jump the queue. People perceive that it’s a free for all, and that gives them the initiative to try and grab any cab they can," he said.

"The result is you sometimes get three or four groups of people rushing the same cab, getting into traffic, fighting with each other, and the cab driver who’s pulling up has to be the referee."

One driver sees the current situation as a public safety issue as well as an issue of driver safety, and believes that it could easily be avoided.

"Because the problem is so centralized, it should be easy to deal with," says Frank Papenburg, who has been driving a taxi in Whistler for several years. "If it was spread out all over town, it wouldn’t be a good thing. But if we had five or six pickup points in town, obviously it would help. People do call cabs to avoid the loop scene, but almost everyone who needs a ride home goes to the loop."

To handle the crowd, which can number in the hundreds on any night during the peak season, Papenburg says two people would be enough to bring order to the loop.

"I understand the RCMP is very expensive, they only have six to eight guys on a Saturday night and they get called out, so it’s up to the municipality, maybe the taxi company and maybe the bars put together. Just to have two guys in the loop from 11 at night to 3 a.m. keeping people on the sidewalks would work.

"If people knew they have to wait their turn to get a cab, and nobody was jumping in front of them, things would be a lot more civil in there. Show people everything is in order and the chaos wouldn’t happen."

According to Papenburg, tourists have made negative comments to him regarding the taxi loop. Most are shocked by the lack of control, and the attitude of the crowd.

"It doesn’t look too good for Whistler to have this kind of thing going on. For some people the taxi loop is their first introduction to Whistler."

Pique Newsmagazine received four letters after the March 9 incident to call attention to the situation. All believe the responsibility lies with the municipality, RCMP, drinking establishments and taxi companies.

Staff Sergeant Hilton Haider of the Whistler RCMP detachment says they have met with the municipality, taxi company and drinking establishments before to discuss the situation in the loop.

Working together they have already extended the hours of operation for local bars by a full hour, to give people more time to disperse and stagger the release of patrons into the village.

According to Papenburg, it hasn’t worked.

"People can stay later so they order more at last call, and everybody waits until the bar closes anyway before they head home. Later hours have just delayed things a little."

Haider says the stakeholders plan to meet again in the coming weeks to discuss measures for controlling the taxi loop.

"We’ve been concerned about that loop all the time I’ve been here," says Haider. "We’ve had meetings in the past but it’s a very difficult challenge. The problem for us is that we just don’t have the officers to spare. We’re not sure what pulling officers to the cab loop will mean for the rest of the village. Where are they supposed to come from?"

Grant Gibson, is one of the owners of the cab company, which is a conglomeration of Sea to Sky Taxi, Whistler Taxi and Blackcomb Taxi. He has been to the meetings and says that the situation is already well understood.

"The problem we’re having is that everyone is getting booted out (of the bars) at the same time and there are a lot of drunk people in the town all at once needing cabs," says Gibson.

In the past the cab company has suggested creating some kind of corral, like in the lift lines, so people understand there’s an order to being served. The company has also offered to hire someone to direct traffic in the loop, "but (the municipality) won’t let us because it’s municipal property, and there’s the liability issue."

Gibson agrees that the situation is worse now than in the past. "It’s getting worse in the loop, but the police presence hasn’t changed at all really. I don’t think they want to go into a situation of having a few officers try and control a crowd of 200 people.

"At the same time business is building up, it’s getting busier and busier, and crowds in the loop are getting bigger and bigger."

At this stage, taxi drivers know they are on their own and they come to one another’s aid whenever there’s a problem.

"They have radios and talk to each other. They get there before the police can a lot of the time. Obviously they should help each other out."

Gibson says he will continue to work with stakeholders, and hopes they understand the urgency of the situation and the job the taxis are already doing to alleviate after hours crowds in the village.

Eric Larsen, another of the taxi company’s owners, believes the RCMP may be the only answer.

"They’re the only people that the crowds will respect enough," he says. "They really only have to be there for 45 minutes each night, just long enough to have a presence, and watch over things until the crowd thins out. They don’t have to be there every night of the week either, just Saturdays, and to a lesser extent, Fridays."

While it may mean taking officers away from other parts of the village, Larsen says that they should go where the crowd is largest.

Another option that could be explored is for bars to agree to stagger their closing times, taking turns opening and closing later.

He also hopes that the provincial government’s decision to allow bars to serve until 4 a.m. will be approved by Whistler council.

He feels a later last call and longer hours will stagger the arrival of bar patrons at the taxi loop enough to lessen the crush at the end of the night.