Yellow Cab has confirmed that a taxi driver has been suspended after a video surfaced online showing a driver refusing to take a man home from downtown Vancouver to New Westminster.
Kuldip Gill told CTV News he left a work Christmas party at the Commodore Ballroom early, around 10:30 p.m. Friday night, so he could catch a taxi back to New Westminster. When the cab driver refused to take him, Gill started recording on his cellphone.
Gill can be heard asking the driver "you don't want to drive me because it's too far?" To which the driver responds, "too far man."
Carolyn Bauer, spokesperson for Yellow Cab, told CTV that a driver has been suspended over the incident.
Gill, however, thinks the problem is more than just one driver.
"This sort of thing happens all the time," he said. "If you look at the video, he was totally transparent… That shows you how incredibly comfortable he is making statements like that."
The driver says in the video that Gill is drunk, and asks him to leave the cab because he is making the driver feel unsafe.
"It was obviously just a cop out… So he can pick and choose who he takes," Gill said.
According the B.C. government's Taxi Bill of Rights,drivers are not permitted to refuse to transport a passenger based on the length of a trip. Drivers can only refuse to transport passengers to protect their own safety, if the passenger is smoking or if the passenger does not provide a deposit.
Since Gill posted his video to Facebook, he says he's heard friends and colleagues share similar experiences.
"A colleague of mine in her early 20s—the same thing happened to her last night. She was dropped off in North Vancouver and the cabbie refused to take her home," he said. "And that's a huge safety concern, right?"
Gill ended up getting home safe after getting in a cab that another man had flagged and offering to pay his fare. Now, he's calling for change in the taxi industry and more transport options like Uber and Lyft.
