Lyft comes to Canada, sans-moustache

The ridesharing service Lyft, an Uber alternative, is coming to Toronto, building on its success in 300+ U.S. cities, providing 1 million rides a day.

"Lyft's marketing strategy, which is geared toward the young and technologically savvy, draws a relaxed and friendly demographic." Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times

As a brand, Lyft became known for the large pink furry moustaches drivers attached to the front of their cars. While memorable, the furry moustaches were eventually dropped, to overcome the resistance of some riders to arrive at destinations, such as business meetings, in a car with a giant moustache.

The replacement was nicknamed the "Glowstache" (a small, glowing plastic dashboard moustache). The latest Lyft iteration is a new color-changing dashboard indicator called "Amp."

Lyft is designed to encourage interaction between riders and drivers. When launched, Lyft riders were encouraged to sit in the front seat and fist bump with drivers upon meeting.

"You feel like you're in the car with a friend, and that's no mistake... Whether it's bringing someone a sandwich for the ride or letting them choose the music in the car, Lyft drivers have their own budding community growing." Drew Olanoff, TechCrunch

Music preferences are just one of the personal details that both passengers and drivers are encouraged to add to their profiles, facilitating conversation.

"Lyft is a real community—with both the drivers and riders being inherently social—making real friendships and saving money." Scott Weiss, Andreessen Horowitz (venture capital investor)

How it works:

• Riders must download the Lyft mobile app to their iOS or Android-based phone, sign up, enter a valid phone number, and enter a valid form of payment (either a credit card, or link to an Apple Pay, Google Wallet or PayPal account).
• Passengers can then request a ride from a nearby driver.
• Once confirmed, the app shows the driver's name, ratings by past passengers, and photos of the driver and car.
• At the end of the ride, the passenger is given the opportunity to provide a gratuity to the driver, billed to the rider's payment method.
• After a ride is completed, drivers and passengers are given the opportunity to rate each other on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Any driver averaging a low rating by users is dropped from the service. Lyft does not allow passengers to know their rating.

The 5 year old transportation network company is based in San Francisco, California. Canada is Lyft's first international operation.

Related content
Lyft Launches Toronto Expansion on Tuesday - CTV
CITY Q&A: Timothy Houghton, head of Lyft Toronto, on what it’s like to take on Uber - Toronto Life
Lyft Launches in Toronto with SickKids Donation - Betakit
Lyft plans to operate more than 100 vehicles in Hamilton - CBC
Lyft is Coming to Canada - Huffington Post

More from IHateTaxis
Is Uber Doomed?
The Uber Tip Dilemma
Uber Provides the Taxi Industry a Good Kick in the Pants
Canadian Taxi Monopoly is Attempting to Curb Consumer Choice
Dear Canadian Taxi Monopoly: Your Uber Boogie Man Doesn't Scare Me
Taxi Truths Campaign Puts Lipstick on a Pig

Price slash on Toronto's UPExpress

UPExpress at Bloor Street station
creative commons image wiki commons

As we reported in October in New hope for Toronto's UPExpress, the slick new Toronto airport train had suffered since its opening with ridership far below projections. Marketed to the business traveller, the high fares on the empty trains were unaffordable for airport workers, and an annoying indulgence that few local travellers would fork out for. As the messy back story behind the launch fares has emerged, the pressure was heating up.

Now, 9 months after the service began, the Toronto Unuion Express airport train is being reborn with lower fares. The $27.50 cash fare will be slashed to $12. Presto card holders will pay $9, versus the prior $19. Airport workers will see their monthly pass price drop from $300 to $140. The new rates come into effect on March 9th.

And Torontonians are happy: according to a survey by the Toronto Star, 51% say the fares are fair now, and will avail themselves of the rail service. Better late than never!

Related resources
Metrolinx set UP Express price high despite warnings
Torontonians on board with lowered airport train fare, poll suggests
New hope for Toronto's UPExpress
Toronto joins the 21st century with Pearson airport train
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) transportation guide
Toronto City Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) transportation guide

New hope for Toronto's UPExpress

UPExpress airport train at Pearson station
creative commons image chriskillam on Flickr

After a beleaguered start, it appears there may be hope on the horizon for Torontonians who watch the city's airport train cars pass by empty.

The Globe and Mail has reported of a rumoured takeover of the Union Pearson Express by the city. In the article, Toronto Mayor John Tory "acknowledged that the idea is just a 'passing reference' in what is expected to be a lengthy report on the feasibility of his $8-billion SmartTrack, which would run on the existing GO rail network and has a planned stop in the Pearson airport area."

Passing reference or not, we can't help but be optimistic.

The Union Pearson Express on a busier day
creativecommons image sweetone on Flickr

While the building of the new Toronto Airport train was much anticipated, doubts about ridership arose immediately after the fare structure was announced (see our blog post Toronto joins the 21st century with Pearson airport train).

Since beginning service in June, UPExpress trains have been running largely empty, with few but the most flush travellers, and an occassional local, paying the steep fares. For an international airport, served by thousands of local workers, Toronto deserves better. Let's hope the SmartTrack will get the Toronto Pearson Airport train on the right track.

YYZ Airport train: fast, but not cheap
creativecommons image chriskillam on Flickr

Related resources
Staff report hints at Toronto taking over Pearson express train
Pearson airport express trains 90 per cent empty
Union Pearson Express — the train Toronto loves to hate
What travellers want – and at the right price
Clean Train Coalition on UPExpress diesel design

Toronto joins the 21st century with Pearson airport train

Toronto's shiny new YYZ airport train
wikicommons images (except as noted)

Toronto has finally joined the 21st century with its new train service to Pearson International Airport (YYZ). There have been discussions since the late 1980s, but this week the dream become a reality.

One can now jump on a train - the Union Pearson Express, or UPExpress - from Toronto's YYZ  airport to downtown (or vice versa) in about 25 minutes onboard a touted luxury train that boasts a comfy ambience and free WiFi, similar to that of the Heathrow Express. This new train only stop twice enroute – the Weston and Bloor West Stations.

The price tag for a one-way journey is a steep $27.50 fare per adult. Gasp.

The fare is quite high in comparison to other airport-downtown train journeys around the world and it is difficult to determine whether this price point will gather enough passengers to warrant itself a sustainable business model. The Vancouver Canada Line, a comparable national example, takes approximately half the time (half the distance) and only costs $5.50 during peak times and $2.75 evenings/weekends, so a $10-15 price tag for the UPExpress would seem more fitting.

creativecommons image
chriskillam on Flickr

Based on the current pricing system, the reduction in airport parking and taxis could be quite limited, and given the UPExpress only frequents downtown, it seems more geared towards business travelers and tourists versus city residents, whom would be better off catching a taxi or a bus. There is a reduced fare for Presto fare-card holders ($19 one-way), but it's not enough to entice regular riders.

What would be a game changer would be if the UPExpress had alignment to Toronto’s subway system or light rail transit to give more flexibility in options for all travelers.

In the meantime, having more transit choices for travelers at the Pearson International Airport is a good thing so long as the arguably prohibitive cost does not make this investment a boondoogle.

Related resources
The Union-Pearson Express is the good news story Toronto refuses to accept
Union Pearson Express test ride: A first look at Toronto’s downtown-airport train
Union Pearson Express Opens Today
Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) transportation guide

Taxi Truths campaign puts lipstick on a pig

'Taxi Truths' letter to Canadians kicks off national campaign
Image by @MickCoulas

In the latest move of desperation, Canada's biggest taxi companies have banded together to launch national advertising and a new website.

They're calling it a conversation with Canadians, but it's a one-way campaign built on fear mongering anti-Uber campaigns to date in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

The new website, Taxi Truths, touts the benefits of taking a licensed taxi, With a groovy website design (it's actually rather clever), and even implying it has own app, Taxi Truths is trying to show it is "with it", but it's clearly lipstick on a pig.

Armed with data and arguments on the side of safety, security and accessibility (the claim on value will be disputed), the Canadian Taxicab Operators fail to grasp the role sharing has on the psyche of Canadians on the move, in the time of the exploding sharing economy.

Will it work? Only time will tell, but we are clearly in the side if the skeptics.

The Canadian Taxicab Companies group lists its members in Calgary (Checker Group, Associated Cab Company), Edmonton (Taxi Service Group), Montreal (Taxi Diamond), Ottawa (Coventry Connections), Toronto (Royal Taxi) and Vancouver (MacLure’s Cabs, Vancouver Taxi, Yellow Cab, Black Top & Checker Cabs). Perhaps fearing it's next to hit Uber's radar, the site also lists Winnipeg (UniCity Taxi, Duffy’s Taxi) is also listed on the site.

Related resources
Taxi companies start national anti-Uber campaign
New website features 'Taxi Truths' and takes aim at Uber
Canadian Taxi Monopoly is attempting to curb consumer choice
Uber provides the taxi industry a good kick in the pants

End of Days - YYZ to discontinue bus service

Toronto's Airport Express back in 2009 when it was decked out for a Cuba promotion.
The shuttle service to/from Pearson Airport is a common sight outside the Royal York hotel
 in downtown Toronto. But not for much longer... (photo: wikicommons)

Toronto Pearson Airport's infamous shuttle bus service, the Toronto Airport Express, will be ending their service on October 31, 2014.

Porter Airlines landing at Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport
on Toronto Islands, in the city centre.

The shuttle's operator, Pacific Western Transportation, says the discontinuation is due to Billy Bishop Airport's increased popularity, as well as the planned airport subway system scheduled for 2015.

For many travelers, the bus service was simply becoming too inconvenient with construction and gridlock making the service too long, and too inconvenient for cost conscious travelers looking for a cheap and quick service to downtown Toronto.

The good news is that Toronto will soon join many other cities that have a special subway line that takes passengers to/from the international airport. Metrolinx is well into construction of the new Union Pearson Express line, or UP Express. The project has already won international recognition, as Project of the Year at the 2013 Global AirRail Awards.

Don't get too excited if you see the
 Link Train at Pearson, as it only
 provides inter-airport connections.

In Toronto, it will enable many of Canada's snowbirds that live right downtown to walk underground, hop on the airport subway and then get on their plane without ever going outside. Imagine leaving Toronto in the winter time when it is -20° celsius in a shirt and shorts enroute to Mexico in a comfortable climate controlled environment. No more bringing your needless parka to a tropical destination.

While there will be a gap in service between the discontinuance of the Toronto Airport Express line and that of the new airport subway, it is anticipated that travellers will rely on using the city airport (YTZ) more, taking a taxi or shared airport shuttle services.

Related resources:

• Toronto’s Pearson Airport express bus to stop this fall due to construction, traffic, Island Airport
• Rollin' Down the Track
• Express train to Pearson airport prepares for takeoff
• Options to/from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
• Options to/from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)
• Toronto Layover Options and Things to Do in Toronto

14 Great Cities Where You Can Eat Like a Cabbie

You are visiting a new city, loving it, yet... you loathe tourist traps. Where does the curious and adventuresome traveler go to eat like the locals?

LLoviendo Cafe, Jorge Fernández-Trevejo Rivas
via creativecommons

Think about it. Who in the city, is watching their pennies, and has an appetite that needs ongoing love and attention?

Why the city's cabbies, of course!

It's a trick of the well-traveled: pick your cabbie's brain for the best cheap spots for good food in town.

How you ask the question makes a difference though: "Where do the locals go for breakfast around here?" or "Where do you and all the cabbies go for good, cheap food?", works better than "We're hungry. Where can we go for dinner?" (the latter runs the risk of being whisked off to his uncle's restaurant, or some diner where the driver gets a cut).

Leaving town before you find the best driver? Ask away and take notes; you never know when you'll be back. Bonus points if your driver mentions a spot you managed to find on your own!

Athens	Restaurants in Athens (see mentions of George the famous taxi driver of Greece)
Berlin	Berlin Food Adventures *
Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires Food Adventures *
Chicago	Eating like a cab driver
Dubai	Where taxi drivers dine: We visit the restaurants that fuel the city's cab drivers
Ho Chi Minh City	Eating by taxi in Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong	Taxi Tales: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers
Istanbul	Eating & Drinking in Istanbul: 3 Taxi Driver Tips
London	Hail London's new TV star: Cabbie who knows where to find the capital's best food Nosh and Knowledge: The lore, language and robust diets of  London's "black cab" drivers
New York	Looking for a culinary trip? Follow that cab. Famous Fat Dave: the Hungry Cabbie * New York Food Adventures *
Rome	Where to eat in Rome - by the city's cabbies *
Singapore	What Singapore Taxi Drivers Eat For Lunch or “Uncle, 载我去吃饭!” Top 8 hawker food centres taxi drivers patronise
Toronto	The top 10 restaurants for taxi drivers in Toronto
Washington DC	Where cabbies eat like kings

Created with the HTML Table Generator
*dated but likely still valuable tips

Just a sampling, of course. But rest assured, that if there is a city, and there are taxis, there are cabbies that know where the best eats are.

The famous Curry 36 in Berlin

Google is your friend - but so is Layne Mosler (@taxigourmet) of Taxi Gourmet, who is turning her website dedicated to her pursuit of the cabbie's lunch trail into a new book. Driving Hungry, with croudsourced funding by Kickstarter, will be out in 2014.

Curious? Read this interview with Layne by @epicurious.


Related resources:

• Taxi Mike's Where to Eat in Banff (where is Banff?)
• Invite your taxi driver to eat with you
• Confessions of a New York Taxi Driver (book trailer video)
• George: the famous taxi driver of Greece

In case you missed it... here's the answer to the burning question: Do we really hate taxis?

Amazing Race Canada - Week 10: The Toronto Islands finish fine

All eyes were on Toronto last week as the first season of The Amazing Race Canada wrapped up.

Toronto skyline, viewed from Toronto Islands

The race finished on the Toronto Islands, a small chain of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, just offshore from the city. Even if you aren't familiar with the islands, you are probably familiar with the Toronto skyline, the shots of which are taken from various spots on the islands.

As the action at the finish line has been well covered, we'll focus on where it all took place, with a visit to the Toronto Islands. While often referred to collectively, the final leg of The Amazing Race Canada actually took place on Olympic Island. [continue reading]