Bar manager Jay Gwilliam says the city’s decision to allegedly ticket taxi drivers outside bars is clashing with SGI’s crackdown on drinking and driving.
A video taken by Andrew Shark, the O’Hanlon’s general manager, shows a commotion as a city parking officer allegedly tells a taxi driver he can’t wait outside the bar. The incident happened around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
“You’re ticketing a taxicab in front of a bar?” a voice can be heard asking on the video.
O’Hanlon’s had just hosted an event featuring a documentary on the dangers of drinking and driving and partnered with Regina Cabs to offer a free ride home.
It’s a problem that’s becoming increasingly common, he said, at the same time SGI is cracking down on drunk drivers and encouraging cab use.
“It’s incredibly insane. Blows my mind,” Gwilliam said.
“The fact that cabs can’t park in front of the bar just seems ridiculous.”
In response to concerns, the city installed several late night taxi zones along Victoria Avenue near Scarth Street Thursday afternoon.
Gwilliam said it’s not enough to fix the problem, and it’s also a dangerous intersection.
“If the cab is directly in front of the pub, that decision can be made immediately: ‘I’m going to get in the cab. I’m going to get home safe’,” he said. If I have someone intoxicated I can put them physically into the cab and get them home safe. I cannot take someone two blocks away and put them in a taxi.”
Gwilliam said the distance to a taxi pick-up point is a problem as SGI wants to hold bars accountable for getting customers home safely.
“They might decide in that split second, you know how people get when they start drinking, ‘well there’s nobody here, maybe I can drive home, I’m okay’,” Heather Pontius, a customer, said. “But if they see that cab, they’re going to go out there and they’re going to use it.”
“One side is drinking. The other side is economic. The city wants to promote downtown, wants people to come here to the inner part of the city, and yet you do things that kind of prevent that from being successful,” customer Glen Berger said. “Why sabotage your own effort?”
“To have the city come along and ticket that, it just seems like it’s putting a damper on the message of safety, and I think it’s extremely irresponsible,” customer Josh Strait said.
The city refused an interview but said in a statement it’s confident the new taxi zone will help keep patrons, motorcyclists and pedestrians safe. It said the city was aware of the video, and “the safety of our employees is paramount in the work they do on behalf of all Regina residents and that needs to be respected at all times.”
Parking enforcement officers work from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday to Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Unless otherwise posted, parking regulations are in effect 24 hours a day, so illegally parked vehicles may be ticketed at any time, the city said.