Good idea or bad? Fire hydrants to become taxi stands in Downtown Calgary.

There is apparently a shortage of parking spaces for taxis in Calgary, Alberta's largest city. The cab drivers complain there are too few places to wait for fares. The solution has come in the form of a fire hydrant.

The taxi drivers will be allowed to park in front of almost half the fire plugs in Downtown Calgary. Interesting concept. Maybe the cabbies can do some flow testing while they are waiting for the next fare.

Those supporting the plan say it will actually keep the fire hydrants open in case of a fire. Here's more from the Calgary Herald:

Cabbies will be required to stay in or adjacent to their vehicles.

They will be allowed to park in front of 90 of the 195 hydrants in the downtown, which offers the public more locations to search for a cab.

On the other hand, cabbies will essentially protect the hydrants from illegal parking, giving better assurance the fire department will have quick access to water in the case of a nearby blaze.

It's interesting there are no quotes from fire officials in any of the articles I've read about this plan. City manager of traffic Troy McLeod says the fire department supports the idea. Here's an excerpt from CalgarySun.com (there is also an interview with McLeod at this link):

Taxis will be allowed to park as long as the drivers are inside the cab or near the vehicle. If a fire truck heads towards a hydrant, the driver can move the taxi. McLeod said in essence cab drivers will act as "stewards" of the hydrants which normally get used as parking spots by the public.

Currently, 6,500 tickets are issued annually to unoccupied vehicles parked near hydrants, he said. "So it's 22 times more likely that the fire department would run into someone blocking a hydrant than if we had the taxi driver there," he said.

If I was reporting the story I'd still want to hear directly from the fire chief on his thoughts about this unusual idea.