New cab company preparing for launch in Saskatoon

A new cab company is set for its maiden voyage in Saskatoon.

Captain Taxi Ltd will launch in the bridge city on Aug. 8 with aims of breaking up a long-standing taxi monopoly during a stagnant time for cab companies.

With roughly 10 years of driving experience, driver Mark Gill teamed up with administrator and partner Zuhaib Jahanjir to hopefully take advantage of new taxi bylaws.

“The monopoly created here in this town by the existing company, they refuse to take the new enterprise licences,” Jahanjir said. “The (taxi) union and the councillors voted, but that was all just going in vain because there was no other company which is ready to take these new enterprise licences.”

United Group and Comfort Cabs, the two most popular cab companies in Saskatoon, announced a merger roughly a year ago.

In April, a change in the city’s long-existing taxi bylaw was unanimously passed by city council. That change eliminated the need for a seasonal taxi licence, instead favouring a new enterprise system.

The previous seasonal licence system allowed 24 licences, valid from September to June each year, and they were commonly shared by multiple drivers. The United Group rejected the new proposal by the city. Jahanjir said Captain Taxi will wholeheartedly welcome the changes.

“We want to break the monopoly, and we want to help the economy,” he said. “We want to keep the dollars in our city, in our country.”

Jahanjir will begin operations with 35 licences that can operate up to 14 hours per day for six days a week, but can be used by only one person.

All of the company’s drivers have multiple years of prior experience driving, as the new laws require.

There will be a 30-per-cent reduction in dispatch fees compared to other companies.

Jahanjir is realistic about starting a new cab company in 2019 when ridesharing giants like Uber and Lyft have largely replaced cab companies as the preferred method of travelling.

“The market is not so good. I will be honest in this because of the ridesharing companies,” Jahanjir said. “(Taxis) have always been here, and (they) will always stay, we believe that.”

People can expect to see the black cars, with a yet-to-be-determined logo, on Saskatoon streets by the Aug. 8 operating date. As for trying to get any customers that Uber has taken from traditional cabs, Jahanjir thinks that Saskatoon will support local.

“We want to give our dollars back to the community,” he said.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brady Lang and Keenan Sorokan