Is Vancouver’s chronic late-night taxi shortage behind weekend knife attacks?

Two stabbing incidents in downtown Vancouver last weekend that left one man dead and two others badly injured had a common denominator: They both involved late-night taxis.

Vancouver's night-life districts along raucous Granville Street and nearby Yaletown are notoriously difficult places to get a cab around last call.

Many cabbies are reluctant to take long bridge-and-tunnel trips into the suburbs to ferry revellers home to far-flung places like Surrey and Maple Ridge. And with transit service drying up just as the bars are emptying, it can create a stampede to snap up whatever taxis are available.

It's not clear what brought on the Sunday-night attack at Granville and Georgia streets that ended with a 28-year-old taxi passenger dying in hospital, but Vancouver police confirm a dispute over a cab was behind the stabbing of two men in Yaletown around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

[ Related: Murder of Montreal taxi driver, severe beating of Vancouver cabbie highlight profession’s danger ]

In the fatal stabbing, police said in a news release that suburban Surrey resident Robert Tyson Smith was a passenger in a cab when its driver got into an argument with two men. Smith got out of the taxi and intervened in the dispute, which then escalated into a fight with the two men that resulted in Smith being stabbed, police said.

Smith was found unconscious on the sidewalk of the busy intersection and rushed to hospital, where he died despite undergoing surgery.

Police arrested two men they believed were involved in the altercation, based on information from witnesses. But they were released without charges while the investigation continues, police said.

The Yaletown incident began when two men flagged down a taxi. As they were getting in, two other men claimed it was their cab. A fight broke out that left the first two men with serious stab wounds that sent them to hospital.

Police found the other two nearby and one of them, a 24-year-old Surrey resident, has been charged with two counts of assault with a weapon and two of assault causing bodily harm.

[ Related: Vancouver cabs granted injunction to block suburban taxis ]

It's a stretch to lay responsibility for these attacks on the taxi industry. Alcohol and testosterone are more likely culprits, but the problem of weekend taxi service for Vancouver's bustling downtown club scene is undeniable.

As the Vancouver Sun reported last June, city and provincial officials thought they saw a solution in issuing temporary permits to allow suburban cabs to operate in Vancouver during peak demand periods such as Friday and Saturday night.

But Vancouver-based taxi companies obtained an injunction last June barring the provincial Passenger Transportation Board from issuing the 38 permits to suburban cabs to serve the downtown core. The four Vancouver operators argued allowing suburban hacks to pick up downtown fares would hurt their bottom line, the Sun reported.

The B.C. Supreme Court overturned the injunction in October, opening the door to issue the special permits for the suburban cabs, according to Business in Vancouver.

The Sun noted the Vancouver taxi fleet has grown steadily, including more than five dozen cars added for weekend-only use. However, that didn't put much of a dent in customer waiting times.

A study by a University of British Columbia business school professor concluded Vancouver's taxi market could safely add 140 more cabs to the current fleet of almost 600, including the 65 licensed for weekend peak service, the Sun said.

It's hard to say if the added suburban cabs have reduced the problem. Last weekend's incidents suggest it hasn't.