On the frigid, blustery night of December 31st, Golden was teeming with energy, excitement, and the best of wishes as 2010 was bid farewell and 2011 entered into the realm of everyday life. Events around the community overflowed with well-wishers as the RCMP did their best to keep the roadways in our community safe for those traveling. And thanks to Mount Seven Taxi, the night remained a positive one.
“The night was insanely busy,” Manager at Mount Seven Taxi, Kristi Pufal said about the long night.
It was a night that had cabs zipping this way and that, usually full of patrons; any vacant taxis that cruised the streets didn’t remain that way for very long.
“We had six cabs running all over the place. We did quite a few trips up to Kicking Horse, went out to the Blaeberry many times, Nicholson, pretty much all over the place,” Pufal added.
It was so busy in fact that many cab-takers decided to share taxis opposed to waiting for one to become available.
“There were a few drivers that said when they arrived to pick people up at the bar, people just started piling in the vans. I guess there were a lot of people who decided to share. This is good. It was the safe thing to do,” Pufal commented on the concept of cab sharing.
Although the taxi company only has six vehicles in their fleet, many more could have come in useful on New Year’s Eve.
“We absolutely could have used more vehicles out there on the roads. But, seeing as we usually only run two vehicles a day, having six out on the road is quite a big leap for us. We do what we can with what we have,” Fugal said.
As you could imagine, New Year’s Eve for a cab driver could be quite an eventful time; a time where a slurred-word dictionary may come in handy. But, with the many road checks out and with the RCMP presence, taxi drivers made sure to keep their patrons in check.
“The road checks were not a concern at all for us. Our drivers always remain professional, and our patrons all acted appropriately. We do usually have some sort of excitement on these types of nights, but not this year. I guess that’s a good thing,” Pufal said.
Unlike most, Mount Seven Taxi did not have the luxury to call it a night after the champaign bottles had run dry and the fireworks were nothing but a foggy memory in the minds of Golden locals.
“At 5:00am we were still swamped! I suppose it was a good night for those up that late,” Pufal said with a short chuckle.
Even though this New Year’s Eve wasn’t the busiest in recent memory for Mount Seven Taxi, the steady activity of cabs in Golden did make it a safe night for those who choose to cab it.
