Calgarians have been complaining for years about how hard it is to get a cab in this city.
Now city council has decided the solution is issuing more taxi licences.
An amendment approved on Monday calls for a third of the 383 new licences to be given to cab drivers by the end of the year. The remainder will be rolled out through 2015.
Those new licences will go towards drivers, not brokers, who have 900 hours of service and have had their licence for a year. New drivers will also have to work peak hours like Friday and Saturday nights.
Some councillors say the taxis are needed to catch up to the demand but others are worried that they might flood the system with too many at once.
Drivers packed into council chambers to hear the debate and many say they are excited about the opportunity to have their own plate and the chance to work a little more independently.
"The driver can put more time and he can adjust his time according to the needs of customers or passengers," said Jatindir Minhaus.
"What we wanted to do was make sure that the drivers who are in the system now had a fighting chance to compete and I think we've done that," said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Council also approved a 8.1 percent rate hike.
