An Ottawa shopping mall and cab company are working together to help residents get through the holiday rush amidst a public transit strike.
"People are under the impression that the taxi drivers have been making a lot of money during the strike. In fact, a lot of the cars are not getting about very much," said Hanif Patni, CEO of Coventry Connections, Ottawa's largest cab company.
Businesses at the Bayshore Shopping Centre, which rely on buses for about 25 per cent of their traffic, are also feeling the pinch.
"We just got past all the construction and we end up with a bus strike. So, it was like a double whammy," said Barbara Woods, manager of Shepherd's.
Now, a new promotion between the mall's businesses and Coventry Connections is making a shopping trip to Bayshore more affordable for those stuck in limbo by an OC Transpo strike.
The promotion works by taking a taxi to the mall and bringing your receipt to customer service.
There, taxi users will get coupons to stores, have their presents wrapped for free, and have the opportunity to get a picture taken with Santa. For the ride home, shoppers will get a $5 voucher to go towards their taxi fare.
"A lot of them do rely on transit, the OC Transpo, so we're saying cabs are probably a good alternative, so let's give them incentive to take advantage of that," said Denis Pelletier of Bayshore Shopping Centre.
Shoppers at the mall told CTV Ottawa the promotion is an incentive they think many people will take advantage of.
"That's ingenious. I can see where the shopping centres would want to get involved in that and that's a great idea," said one shopper.
"I think it's great not only for the strike situation, but also for the economic situation. Try and get people in here to spend a little bit more money over the holidays," said another.
Meanwhile, talks between the two sides of the transit strike are scheduled to resume over the weekend.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
