Lucky? You need to be able to get to work, and winnipegg, as I understand it is extremely cold/harsh, usually buried in snow. 4 x 4 would be a "must" I would assume or else how would you get around? You chose to live there, not me!
Yes, I did chose to move to Canada and live here. I have never commuted to work in my FJ, it's strictly my weekend toy. The rare time Winnipeg is buried in snow, the city is shut down. Much like NYC, CHicago, or MSP, a major storm will close most businesses BTW where exactly do you live?
California?? Your comment about taxation and socialism is now far more humorous than before. Talk about the kettle calling the pot, black!
wow... you're comparing Canada to California?? doood... back to the frozen north with you... I think your polar bear is calling you.
I'm not in and haven't yet been to Canada so I'm not qualified to post to this thread but I won't let a little thing like that stop me. I work for the government and people in USA think Australia is a socialist state but I had to pay for my own Prius and there were no tax breaks either. Why do Canadian taxi owners prefer Prius?
You keep forgetting I used to be a US citizen, born in Michigan, 10 years US Army. Spent around half my life in Utah, but I'm not a Mormon. The folks in Utah used to refer to California - and the folks living there - as socialist hippie pot smoking porn freaks. And the negative comments were really nasty Nope no polar bears around here. I would have to venture to Churchill, which is about 3 hours north of Winnipeg by jet. Actually weather isn't too bad today, supposed to be around +10 F. That compares to ND, MN, etc
I have been to Australia three times. In many ways the large cities remind me of large Canadian cities. But to label all of Australia a "socialist state" is infantile. I used to be an American citizen. It says a lot about a country - and the people living within - when average folks comment about a country (Canada, Sweden, Australia, Cuba, etc) without having stepped foot on that soil. This is much like the "armchair soldiers" who make up the current Republican Party in the US. These folks have never served in any branch of the Armed Forces, certainly have no intention of doing so either, yet think nothing of sending young folk off to a foreign country to die. Especially if the entire premise of sending young folks off to die is based on a lie My parents were "conservative" and I consider myself to be a "conservative." I define that as being fiscally responsible, staying the hell out of others business, and generally desiring to be left alone. The current Republican Party is certainly anything but fiscally responsible. For the most part, they have been taken over by Neo Conservative elements, which is ironic as the Neo Conservative element started off with Socialist leanings! We have been down this path before, and sadly have not learned from it. The Neo Conservatives had convinced Americans of a "missile gap" with the former USSR in the 1960's. There was no such thing, the Corona spy satellite system proved it. But the Corona program was kept Classified until the late 1990's, so the average person was unaware of this lie Here in Canada I actually like the current Progressive Conservative minority government. Being a Minority, they always face the possibility of a Non Confidence vote, so they are always on their best behavior. Thanks to America's appetite for oil, the Canadian economy is roaring along, with budget surpluses. The PC's are putting most of that surplus into paying off the national debt Here in Winnipeg, Duffy's Taxi claims the fuel savings alone will pay for the car in about 3 years, with everything after that pure profit. Otherwise the car used most often is based on the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor package. https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/2008fleetshowroom/2008-CrVicPoliceInt.asp There is little difference in passenger room comparing a Crown Vic to a Prius. If you're wondering about the Fire Suppression System, a few cops were burned to death after having their Crown Vic rear ended. The fuel tank is located between the rear bumper and the rear axle, in a crash the fuel tank is ruptured and burning gasoline engulfs the passenger compartment
I can't speak for the taxi industry here but from what I've read it's a no-brainer for them. It's a very reliable car that is cheap to operate. Here's an interesting link - The one guy talks about using "four times less gas" per shift. Considering the cost of fuel, I'd say that was a no-brainer. EDIT [There I fixed the link, sorry about that.]
In the city of Toronto, IIRC the Prius does not meet the size requirements for a taxi. In any case I have NEVER seen a Prius taxi in Toronto or the surrounding area. However, there are tons of Priuses here.
I am not sure if "tons" would be an appropriate description of the GTA Prius population, but I do agree that I have never seen one as a taxi here. I don't know if the size is officially the reason, but I do recall hearing that rumour. If true, they really gotta get past that mindset, as taxis truly are the ideal application for HSD!
Keep in mind that the taxis are running nearly 24/7. There's almost never a warm up period (unless they're waiting at a hotel or something) so they do stay at max efficiency fairly often. They also do 100-160,000kms a year (over here anyway) so the costs really add up in a Crown Vic. Also brake pads don't have to be replaced often which is another cost reduction.
LOL Tony ... "Canadians don't speak up" so much because we're very modest and often it's so cold in our igloo that our internet connection freezes up. :grouphug: (Canadians in a group hug trying to keep warm in their igloo)
Actually the Canadian Federal government is providing from their annual budget surplus a free Prius to every Canadian applying to test drive for a year.