Calgary could see hundreds of additional cabs on the road to ease peak-period shortages if a recommendation by the city’s Community Services and Protective Services is approved by council.

The Livery System Enhancements report is pushing for the release of 383 new taxi plates, in addition to the 1,526 currently in operation. The new cabs would be required to operate during peak periods — Friday and Saturday nights.

Together, these motions will “help to ensure taxi supply keeps pace with growth, and significantly increase taxi availability during peak times,” said the report, which will be submitted to standing committee next week.

The idea received mixed reviews from taxi drivers Saturday afternoon.

“I support it,” said Abera Adane, a driver with Checker Yellow Cabs. Adane rents his taxi for around $400 a week but said he’d rather have his own.

“Even if I don’t get my own, I can get cheaper rent if there are more taxis.”

Fellow Checker driver Kulwant Sandhu said there aren’t enough fares to warrant an influx of nearly 400 cabs.

“There’s no work,” he said. noting he sometimes waits three or four hours for a trip. “Friday and Saturday nights, there’s a busy time, but after 3 a.m., there’s nothing in the city.”

Kurt Enders, president of Checker Transportation Group, said the company is in favour of the recommendations. Despite lulls during the work week, Enders said more cabs will draw more customers.

“I feel that if we can provide better service to Calgarians ... they’ll come back and start using the taxis and eventually it’ll grow to where it’s the right number.”

The Taxi and Limousine Advisory Committee believes an increase of 61 new plates would suffice, according to the city report.

Ward 5 Coun. Ray Jones said that number is much more reasonable. Jones had planned to table a motion recommending an increase of 310 cab licences earlier in the summer, but backed off after being inundated with opposition from drivers.

“Too much competition and nobody will make any money, that was the common comment that I got,” he said. Another concern was parking to accommodate the extra cars downtown.

Jones said he was impressed with how well the industry functioned during the Calgary Stampede this year, which is always a crunch time.

“When the brokers and the drivers work together, they show that it can work,” he said.

Fellow councillor Shane Keating, who is on the city’s transportation and transit committee, said the additional cabs will serve as a test to see if peak period shortages are due to the number of cabs, or if there are other factors at play. One potential issue, he said, is that not all drivers are using the dispatch system, while another could be that many cabs wait at the airport instead of fielding calls from all over the city.

“If we add 400 today and we still have the same problem in four to five months, where people can’t get a taxi, the phone lines are always busy, than we know it’s not just the number.”

There have been 215 taxi licences issued in Calgary over the last 28 years. The boost would bump the taxi to citizen ratio from one taxi per 748 citizens to one taxi per 625 citizens. Edmonton has one taxi per 662 citizens.

The report also calls for an 8.1 per cent meter rate increase, bringing the drop rate (for the first 129 metres) from $3.50 to $3.80 and stated the city was open to “safe and accessible app options” to address peak shortages, though it outlined concerns with companies like Uber, including improperly licensed drivers and vehicles.

A phone survey conducted by TLAC revealed that 86 per cent of customers were satisfied with taxi and accessible taxi services on the past year, while that number dropped to 80 per cent during the holiday season (mid-November to mid-January).

mkrishnan@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/manishakrishnan