“Just Too Dangerous”
Cabbies Feel Crunch as City Infrastructure Crumbles
The roads are safe—according to Jean Charest. Among those who aren’t so sure, however, are those who spend more time driving them than anyone else: the city’s taxi drivers.
Montreal’s crumbling infrastructure and the construction aiming to fix it have combined to result in the clogging of several major traffic arteries across town. While it’s an annoyance for anyone trying to get to and from, well, anywhere, it has had a far more profound effect on those for whom getting people to and from places is their bread and butter.
Two crucial components to a good working environment are that it be both functional and safe. For taxi drivers, the city’s roads are their workplace—and right now they’ll tell you that their working conditions are, quite frankly, not much of either.
Not only do the drivers feel unsafe on the job, they’re also feeling the hit in their wallets. As it stands, the deplorable state of Montreal’s road system is hindering their ability to effectively do their jobs and satisfy customers.
“It makes our work difficult,” said Moula Houm, a taxi driver in the city for the past three years. “It’s taking us longer to meet clients, and then when we finally arrive we often find that they’ve already left. By that point we’ve moved, burned gas and wasted our time—all for nothing.”
Houm said that over time, the city’s roads have only gotten worse, and this summer was the worst of all—especially for traffic. For Houm and his colleagues, being stuck in a traffic jam means uselessly burning gas—and a pretty big hole in their pockets.
While some might assume that being stuck in traffic would be a gift to taxi drivers, because their meters continue to run, Houm says otherwise. “Clients that are used to paying 11 or 12 dollars for a ride are now having to pay 16 or 17—so you can bet they aren’t going to tip me.”
Massoud Torabi, for his part, has been a taxi driver in Montreal for over a decade. He doesn’t believe the city has done their due diligence in maintaining the roads. “Every year they fix the same place, and then the next year the same place again. I don’t know what they are doing,” he said. “All of the bridges and roads are very old and I don’t believe anyone takes care of them.”
Torabi is certainly not alone in being frustrated by the city’s efforts—or lack thereof—maintaining its roads and infrastructure.
“[The roads] are just terrible,” said Reza Abab, a taxi driver in Montreal for the past 20 years. “Three weeks ago I was in Istanbul, Turkey, and it was much, much better than here.”
Abab can’t help but feel skeptical when hearing the city’s explanations as to why the roads are so bad. “They can blame it on cold or on winter or whatever, but I can’t believe it—the technology is here, they can do a better job.”
He says that right now, he believes that the best solution would be for the city to add more lanes exclusively for taxis and buses. On Aug. 25 the Gazette reported that part of former Transport Minister Sam Hamad’s $110 million plan to ease traffic congestion was to add 40 km of new bus lanes.
Abab says that the roads are currently in such bad shape that it has begun to impact the price of regularly maintaining his car. “Every half-year we have to go to an inspector for the car, because it’s a compulsory regulation by the Ministry of Transport,” he explained. “And every half year, I have a problem in the front end [of my car] and I have to change ball joints and things like that. All of that is the effect of the roads not being in good shape.”
In addition to losing money on maintenance, Abab agreed with Houm in that he is unable to please clients because he finds himself constantly stuck in traffic. But the financial woes aren’t the only way the poor infrastructure has affected Abab at work—he also no longer feels safe while trying to do his job.
“Whenever I think about what happened a few weeks ago with the Ville-Marie [Expressway], it makes me scared,” he said. “Especially [when I’m driving on] the Turcot Interchange.”
He’s not the only one. Behrne Tesfa—who has been working in the taxi business for six years—feels the same way. “Montreal North, the South Shore, all the bridges, the Turcot—they all just give me a bad feeling,” he said. “The city needs to work on the whole infrastructure, especially the highways. They are just too dangerous.”
Farhad Vahidnia, a taxi driver of six years, also agrees. He said that while working he doesn’t have a choice but to take clients where they need to go, he often finds himself driving places that he himself would not drive otherwise.
On Aug. 2, the Gazette reported that Jean Charest declared the city’s roads to be safe. Nonetheless, Vahidnia said that his current working conditions have forced him
to start seriously looking for a new job—and so long as his faith in the bridges isn’t the only thing crumbling, he hopes he’ll find one soon.
This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 03, published September 13, 2011.
