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Beck Taxi continues to lobby for better rules surrounding cab fares and insurance policies to compete with the ride-sharing businesses like Uber. But will Beck be driven out of the city of Toronto?

So, #DoesTOLoveBeck?

Beck started in 1967 by Jim Beck, and continues to operate today under the leadership of his daughter, Gail Beck-Souter. It is a regulated industry by the City of Toronto and operates the largest fleet with over 1700 cabs. It has been recognized by winning the Reader’s Choice Awards 18 consecutive years for being the #1 taxi choice of Torontonians.

Beck claims to be an iconic part of the city. They are attempting to engage customers by promoting the company as a cultural staple of the Toronto community.

However, Uber won the battle earlier this year to legally operate within the city of Toronto. Uber is able to operate as a business that allows anyone to become an Uber driver and essentially share their ride with others through the Uber app. However, Uber isn’t technically a taxi company so they do not need to be licensed.The regulations surrounding their business operations continue to be discussed as Beck Taxi lobbies the City Council to create legislation that ensures Uber drivers follow the same rules as taxi companies. At this time, Uber is excepted from having to pay taxes and from using mandatory commercial insurance policies.

Gail Beck-Souter stressed that the idea of Uber bringing a “sharing economy” is actually an “underground economy” that hurts the city because it takes away from the means of business:

“They are avoiding the taxes paid by legal, legitimate transportation and hotel industries and enjoying an enormous competitive advantage by doing so.”

Beck had lobbied for lower fares for taxi companies to stay in afloat in the tough competition. As of November 1st, the taxi starting fare dropped from $4.25 to $3.25 to compete with Uber’s starting rate of $2.50.

“While this is a good day for our valuable riders, Beck would be remiss not to highlight this fare break comes out of the pockets of Toronto’s hard working taxi drivers, who are still being forced to compete against black market providers who continue to ignore our city’s bylaws.” – Kristine Hubbard, Beck Operations Manager

So, what is Beck doing to attract their consumers?

Beck estabished a campaign using the hashtag, #BeckLovesTO on Twitter to promote their online presence.

Beck Taxi frequently tweets regarding community events with #BeckLovesTO, along with other local and inspirational hashtags, like the Toronto Blue Jays’ #ComeTogether and and the Toronto Raptors’ #WeTheNorth. They retweet and quote from these teams, along with other popular Toronto people or organizations, to seem connected. Beck uses these campaigns to promote the company as socially responsible, ensuring they are available at times when people would need them, for example, heading home from a drunk-filled night at a sportsbar. They also offer ride credits to customers and share this tactic on social media.

Beck recently rolled out their mobile app, similar to Uber’s, to make communication easier between taxi drivers and their customers.

The app allows people to request a cab from their phone, with an option to pay directly by credit card or PayPal. As Hubbard noted to City Hall in September, Beck began the mobile pick-up request app before companies like Uber did.

Despite the popularity of the Uber business model, Torontonians love the services offered by Beck.

So, why is Uber a threat?

Since Uber was introduced to Toronto a year ago, the licensed taxi industry has lost an estimated 40 percent of its business. Uber does a fantastic job at communicating with their audience with their app, as well as marketing their product worldwide. The company allows public members to easily become Uber drivers, as well as easily accessing an Uber driver wherever they are. Uber is heavily active on Twitter, using the handle @Uber_Canada to constantly promote their various campaigns.

Additionally, Uber extends beyond moving people; they launched a delivery program, like Uber Eats, in which people can pay Uber to deliver them food. They also launched Uber Kittens, where you can get a litter of kittens delivered to you for play time.

Despite getting burgers and kittens, maybe it’s not so safe for Uber drivers to deliver this fun stuff. Beck’s operations manager, Kristine Hubbard, frequently addresses the issue of insurance on Twitter to raise awareness on how Uber’s ride-sharing program is unjust and unsafe:

And not everyone likes the taxi industry:

So, what’s next?

Clearly, Uber has marked their territory in the Toronto market.

People love Uber because they are cheaper and innovative. But as Beck continues to remind us, Uber is not particularly safe since they do not have proper licensing and are not regulated. Therefore, issues of passenger safety remain a concern, with accounts of sexual assault and car accidents continuously showing up in the news. These problems would be better solved with proper regulation.

Even though #BeckLovesTO, it appears they are competing against a different business model that no campaign can easily fix. Beck has been on the defensive since Uber arrived, attacking the ride-sharing business model, while at the same time using Twitter to build a sense of community. Perhaps it would be wise to establish a relationship with Uber to make Torontonians believe in their company, or perhaps the City of Toronto should help Beck with established rules around ride-sharing before it’s too late.

For social media, Beck’s next step is to continue building their campaign, using #BeckLovesTO in almost every tweet and post more often and engage with their online audience. Showcasing the positives of what they do is important, attacking Uber online less and promoting their cultural Toronto background more often.

THE PROGNOSIS: Beck needs to develop a stronger campaign that includes social media, using their cultural history in the city to make Toronto listen.

What would you do if you were Beck? Please share your thoughts below.