Checker cab refused late-night fare despite safety concerns, claims woman

Facing the prospect of a late-night walk on dark downtown streets, 25-year-old Jenna Leniczek opted to take a short cab ride on Saturday rather than venture out on her own. She said the driver told her to get out of his taxi. 

Leniczek was travelling a mere six blocks in order to get back to her car after leaving National on 10th. 

"He said it was not worth his time to drive me there," said Leniczek of the Checker Cabs driver. 

"It was dark and to get from 10th to Stephen Avenue — there's train tracks, you have to go under the train tracks and under the bridge — it's not exactly a direct route and it's not well lit. So I didn't feel comfortable walking at night and I took the safety precaution of taking a cab, and that should be okay."

In fact, it is not okay. Cab drivers are prohibited from rejecting a fare because it's a short trip, as outlined in the city's Taxi Bill of Rights. 

"Trip refusal is expressly mentioned in the bill of rights," said Mario Henriques, the chief livery inspector for the city. "Taxis are prohibited from refusing a trip because of length of trip. So again, this is something we take very seriously."

Repercussions 

He said the driver could lose his licence for the refusal, although that would require the number of the car in order to isolate which driver committed the offence — something Leniczek did not do. 

"We look at the GPS records to make sure it was indeed the right taxi, followed up with an interview with the driver and if we see any sort of pattern, the driver is subject to losing his licence with us," said Henriques. 

Drivers are allowed to refuse a fare, but only if the person is extremely intoxicated or disruptive, is transporting a non-service animal, or there are too many passengers or too much luggage. 

Leniczek said she was shocked after getting kicked out of the cab, but quickly found another and jumped in. Once inside, she said she had to convince the second driver to take her and even offered $20 for the short ride. 

"He took the $20. It wasn't even a 'oh no you don't have to do that' or anything like that. He took the $20," she said. 

A Facebook post she wrote about the experience quickly picked up steam online after her friends asked that she make it public. 

On mobile? Read the Facebook post here. 

"It's obviously not an uncommon problem within Calgary if all these people are talking about it and all being able to relate, which I think is a big issue," she said. 

Checker response

Layna Segall is the social media manager for the Checker Transportation Group. She said the company has 850 cars and around 1,600 drivers, so it's impossible to know who was behind the incident. 

"Without the public coming forward and telling us what's going on as a company we can't do anything to help them. I wish she would have contacted us. We would've been more than happy to help her," she said.

She said it's made clear to drivers that they can't refuse a fare without grounds.  

"It's very unfortunate. We're sorry that it happened, absolutely. We wish we could do something to help her," she said.