Regina taxi industry frustrated with council delay on bylaw review

Taxi companies are waiting with meters running after Regina city council delayed reviewing regulations for the industry.

Sandy Archibald with Regina Cabs said the industry has been looking for a level playing field since ridesharing services first launched in Regina a year ago.

“We’re highly regulated in the taxi industry. We’re looking to do away with some of the redundant inspections and regulations that don’t interfere with safety or security of the customer or driver but get rid of some of the red tape essentially,” Archibald said.

After a long debate at the city council meeting on Wednesday, councillors decided to push back the review of the taxi bylaw to June when ridesharing regulations are also up for review.

Last week, Mayor Michael Fougere said it would be more helpful to compare both sets of bylaws side by side so council can do a proper review the first time rather than having to go back again.

For Archibald, the delay is frustrating because taxis are offering the same service as ridesharing programs but the ability to compete in business is tied up by the stricter rules applied to taxis.

“The rates are mandated by the City of Regina under the taxi bylaw, so we can’t offer discounting or surge pricing to any great extent,” Archibald explained.

City administration did develop a hybrid model to allow soft meters and booking through online apps to provide customers with certainty over the fare they will be charged.

“Ridesharing (firms) use online booking and apps which the taxi industry is forbidden from doing,” Archibald said.

“So we need to loosen the reins on the taxi industry so we can offer the public what they’re looking for: A convenience in terms of booking online, and a certainty in terms of how much the taxi ride is going to cost.”

In addition to regulating the rates taxi companies charge, Archibald explained taxis are also required to have cameras and to submit to vehicle inspections which are not required for rideshare vehicles.

“Unfortunately we’ve been waiting a year for this and now we’re going to wait another four months and in all that time we continue to lose drivers, we continue to lose customers, therefore we lose revenue, we lose jobs, and like I said at the meeting, we’ve lost optimism,” Archibald said.

She said all taxi companies are asking for is to have similar regulations across the board so they can can compete on a level playing field with rideshare services.