(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)
January 16, 2014 - 12:08 PM
KAMLOOPS — According to the owner of a local taxi cab company the city bylaw outlining requirements for chauffeur permits and age of taxi vehicles is too limiting and could result in higher costs for passengers.
“I feel the City of Kamloops bylaw is punitive and definitely more restrictive than the other municipalities in the interior of B.C.,” Yellow Cabs owner Abdul Rasheed says. “Also the age restrictions are more severe than municipalities of comparable size and economic base.”
Rasheed is asking the city to increase the age limit for taxi cabs to nine years from the seven years currently allowed. He calls the current limit 'severe', 'restrictive' and non-competitive. Before submitting his request he took the time to check out 11 other jurisdictions to see how they allow taxi companies to do business.
He notes the cities of Abbotsford, West Vancouver and North Vancouver have a seven year age limit but are willing to extend it depending on the condition of the vehicle while Chilliwack, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Victoria, Vernon, Port Coquitlam, Kelowna and Penticton don't regulate the age, just the need for a permit and in some the condition of the vehicle.
“(The age restriction) will increase the depreciation cost of the equipment by more than $150,000.... Sooner or later it will have to be passed on to the public in the form of increase in tariffs,” Rasheed says, “This will add hardship to the seniors and students who use taxis as a primary means of transportation.... (Extending the allowable age) will help keep essential transportation affordable for people who need it most.”
Rasheed will be before council Tuesday to formally submit his request.
To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014