The city of Winnipeg has one of the lowest rates of taxicabs per person compared with major cities in Canada, according to a report from the Manitoba Taxicab Board.

A row of taxis waits for fares at Winnipeg's airport.
(CBC)

"In that area, we're basically running about one taxicab per every 1,700 people in our city," said board secretary Jerry Kozubal.

"Calgary, Edmonton are running in the ratio of one taxicab for every 800."

Winnipeg also has fewer taxis per person than Ottawa, Quebec City and Regina, according to board statistics.

However, those numbers don't mean there aren't enough cabs in Winnipeg, Kozubal stressed.

Taxis per person, selected Canadian cities
Calgary	809
Edmonton	857
Ottawa	1,078
Quebec City	1,125
Regina	1,658
Winnipeg	1,728
Hamilton	1,761
Source: Manitoba Taxicab Board

"From a cab owner's perspective, I mean, it has to be viable. You can't have, let's say, double the capacity of cabs, and then all of a sudden in the slower periods most of those cabs are sitting idle," he said.

"We see that from airport waiting times, where taxicabs are waiting for an average of 30 minutes in a 24-hour period and limos are waiting over 60 minutes."

Calgary's airport is further away from the downtown than Winnipeg's Kozubal noted.

In addition, he said, Winnipeg covers more land than other cities, so he figures more people own their own cars. 

In fact, although Winnipeg's population is less dense than Calglary's, Calgarians own more cars per capita than Winnipeggers, according to Statistics Canada.

Winnipeg has 400,000 fewer people than Calgary, but covers almost 200 square kilometres more land. Winnipeggers have about 496 cars per 1,000 people, while Calgarians have 660, according to 2006 statistics.

Winnipeg's cab companies operate 409 standard taxis, 22 accessible taxis and 64 handi-transit vans, according to board statistics.

During peak seasons, such as around Christmas and graduation time, the board issues extra temporary licences, Kozubal said.