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New taxi company hits the streets Aurora Taxi in business after driver exodus from Diamond Cabs Thandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The mayor has said there is likely only room for two, not three taxi companies in Yk, but even with City Cabs and Diamond Cabs already on the streets, driver John Dinn said Aurora is not backing down from the challenge. "The public is not happy with both companies the way they're run, they'd like to see an improvement in the taxi industry, which hopefully we could provide," Dinn said. "The two companies that give good service will survive." Most of the Aurora Taxi drivers come from Diamond Cabs -- employees let go after disagreeing with Ted Yaceyko, the owner of Diamond Cabs, over fares. Arguing they did not have much say under Yaceyko, all 29 shareholders of the new Aurora Taxi company are owners of the business, and have a voice in the direction of the company, said leaders Dinn and driver Gailani Dawoud. It's been three weeks since Dinn, Dawoud, and several other drivers were fired from Diamond Cabs, and out of jobs, the creators of the new taxi company were forced to hit the ground running with Aurora Taxi. The new taxi line has been "busy steady since it opened" last Thursday at noon, Dinn said, with about six dispatchers rotating shifts at the company's Old Airport Road head office. By the end of the week, Aurora Taxi expects to have about 20 cars on the road, and will eventually have up to 40 drivers, Dinn said, mostly from Diamond Cabs. Plans for the new company were underway for several months before the drivers left Diamond Cabs. Yaceyko recently told Yellowknifer he wishes his former employees luck. "Good luck to them," he said. "If I taught them well, they will succeed." Diamond Cabs has close to 25 cars on the road at any given time, Yaceyko said, adding that it has been "business as usual" since about 10 of his drivers left all at once for the new cab company. "We have had no interruption," Yaceyko said. "About 10 left (Diamond Cabs), or less. We have lots of drivers, we have enough cars on the road to keep going. It's like several drivers going for holidays in June." The company has already started replacing the drivers that have left the Diamond Cabs fleet. Yaceyko said he believes that Diamond Cabs customers will stick with the company over the competition because of Diamond Cabs' "reliability, courtesy," and more than 10 years of service in Yellowknife. "They will probably try the new company but the clientele that we have established will stay with us," he predicted. "They're not going to jump from a frying pan into the fire."
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