Anyone who drives a rental vehicle in Winnipeg — including shuttle, taxi, or limousine drivers — could be fined hundreds of dollars for improper behavior under the proposed bylaw changes.
City Public Service recommends changes to the rental vehicle bylaws, including a $250 fine for sexually harassing, insulting, abusing, or threatening a passenger.
Drivers could also face a $250 fine for asking for a tip or suggesting a tip is required, not letting the passenger disembark when asking, not providing a receipt, or requesting cash instead of a card payment.
There is also a recommended $500 fine for a driver who uses their electronic device while driving.
All fines would be halved if the offender pays early.
“These interactions often escalate and that can lead to violence, so it’s not good for either party,” said Grant Heather, the city’s rental car manager.
“If we can catch these at the complaint level and correct the driver’s behavior, hopefully they never do it again.”
The fines are intended to act as a deterrent, he said.
“Hopefully… the fine means ‘I won’t do it again’.”
The changes will be outlined in a report due next Tuesday to the city’s building department.
Part of the reason the fines are necessary, according to the report, is that some interactions are reported to the police for a variety of reasons with no further action taken afterwards — including the possibility that what happened wasn’t technically illegal.
The report says this may not change the fact that something happened that should not have happened “and the general safety of passengers and other participants must be considered”.
The proposed bylaw changes do not preclude the possibility of other fines or police involvement.
Heather said if anyone has a complaint about an experience in a limousine, cab or driver’s vehicle they should call 311 to report it. Legitimate complaints will be investigated by the city team and may result in a fine for the driver.
Accountability required, says safe driving advocate
Christine Brouzes said she was curious about the potential fines.
The co-director of Ikwe Safe Rides — a volunteer group that provides transportation for women — has worked with the city for years to make rental vehicles safer.
COVID-19 again forced her to temporarily shut down the public ride request page on Thursday, so she’s worried about how some vulnerable people will get around.
“We often hear women in taxis being asked, ‘Would you like to pay differently?'” Brouzes said, implying a request for a sexual favor.
“It’s not illegal to say that to a passenger. It’s creepy and it’s scary and it’s inappropriate,” she said.
“If a taxi driver behaves inappropriately but does not cross the line of illegality, before this potential fine system there was nothing to hold them accountable.”
Brouzes said fines could also prevent drivers from taking advantage of people unfamiliar with the city’s regulations on rented vehicles. She’s heard of drivers asking northern Manitoba passengers to pay cash when going to certain hotels.
“To hear that they can be fined in this case is just fabulous,” she said.
Christine Brouzes, seen here in a 2019 photo, runs Ikwe Safe Rides, a Winnipeg volunteer group that provides rides for women. She hopes the proposed fines will help deter intimidating behavior by taxi drivers. (Marina von Stackelberg/CBC)
The proposed fines would need to be approved by the city council before they go into effect, but the taxi industry is already raising concerns.
“Sometimes the driver is not responsible for the incident,” said Manmohan Gill, manager at Unicity Taxi. “Some incidents are not captured by the camera if they happen outside the cab. So how can the driver explain himself?”
Gill said if there are complaints, he hopes the city considers both the driver’s and the passenger’s accounts. Instead of an immediate fine, he hopes for a warning system.
He acknowledged that drivers have acted improperly in the past, but pointed out that most trips go well.
According to the city report, drivers completed 2,921,759 trips between January and September 2021. During that time, the city received between 61 and 311 complaints. More than half related to driver behavior.
“There are some bad apples that will ruin a company’s image, but not everyone is bad. It all depends on the situation,” Gil said.
The fines are just one tool the city hopes will discourage drivers from misbehaving.
Staff have put together a “refresher course” on professionalism, including cultural training and lessons on what is appropriate to discuss with passengers.
It was supposed to be offered earlier but was derailed by the pandemic. Staff expect it to roll out sometime this year.