Taxi technology

>> Robert Brummer's got a great idea, but cab companies want nothing to do with him

by PHILIP PREVILLE

It all started in 1994 with a simple idea: a panic button for cabbies in trouble. Everyone thought it was worthwhile. Even a 1997 task force on the taxi industry recommended that all cabs be equipped with such a security system.

But now, five years later, Robert Brummer's satellite-tracked panic signal machine has yet to be installed in a single Montreal taxicab.

Brummer is starting to get fed up. Last week he made a presentation to the MUC Taxi Bureau, in which he accused Montreal's taxi companies of conspiring to deny drivers their safety, and of obstructing him from doing business. "Why they're obstructing me, I don't really know," Brummer told the Mirror. "But it's clear I'm not operating in a free market."

Cab company owners are just as fed up with him. "There's nothing stopping Mr. Brummer from selling his security system," says Dominic Roy, president of Diamond Taxi. "He's just not much of a salesman. Especially when he shows up and starts throwing accusations all over the place. He makes enemies everywhere he goes."

Trekkie cabbie

Back in 1993, Brummer read about the United States Department of Defense's Global Positioning Satellites, or GPS systems, which were being used by police forces and truck companies to track vehicle locations. "They don't charge anything to use them, and all you need is a tiny receiver. I figured this would be ideal for cabs." He spoke to some manufacturers and put a workable system together.

"When I first started talking about it, no one had heard of the GPS satellites. People thought I had watched too much Star Trek."

After the cab companies got over their incredulity, Brummer says they balked at the price. Since then he's made numerous additions and improvements to the system; his current proposal is to equip taxicabs with a GPS panic button and a GPS magnetic card reader for credit and debit cards, and to pay for the whole thing through in-cab advertising.

Currently, advertising is not permitted on either the inside or the outside of cabs. But the MUC Taxi Bureau is in the process of studying its regulations, and will likely make changes to allow taxi advertising in the fall.

Safety or self-interest?

Taxi Bureau director Richard Boyer says there is some merit to Brummer's proposal. "We've had 15 armed hold-ups in cabs so far this year, and that's 15 too many," says Boyer. "But there are other security and card systems available. The Taxi Bureau can't force anyone to buy one system over another. He's going to have to come to an agreement with them."

Adds Diamond Taxi's Roy: "He's got his own self-interest in all this: he stands to make money by selling his stuff. It's pretty low of him to claim he's some kind of saint who just wants to protect cabbies from being hurt."

Brummer charges that cab companies simply don't care about the safety of their drivers. "I'm not selling anything," he insists. "My system pays for itself, so they can't claim price is a problem. They just want to control everything."