(File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Council gives approval

New taxi company, River Side Cab, starting in North Battleford

Jun 16, 2021 | 2:03 PM

North Battleford area residents will soon have another choice when they need to call for a taxi.

City council approved granting an application received to establish a new five-vehicle taxi company called River Side Cab, in North Battleford at its meeting this week.

The applicants have submitted their intent to open an office space on 98th Street, in accordance with the vehicle-for-hire bylaw and the zoning bylaw.

Junior planner Brett Kitchen said this will be the third application for a taxi company received since the city’s policy was implemented in 2019, which was created to open up the market to new taxi businesses in North Battleford.

“Administration has no concerns at this time that the market is over-saturated, however, we will continue to monitor the market,” he said.

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Currently, there are three cab companies and one ride-sharing service operating here for a total of 32 vehicles in service.

In his report, Kitchen said the city contacted several communities of similar size to North Battleford about their number of cab companies and vehicles in service, as a comparison. The numbers ranged from one to nine cab companies, and from six to 42 vehicles in service.

The River Side Cab applicants did not provide city administration with the drivers’ names and vehicle registrations for the cabs. They also are required to have an office location secured before the business can open.

City Corporate Services director Jennifer Niesink said River Side Cab wouldn’t be issued a licence until they had all of these requirements in place.

In response to Coun. Bill Ironstand’s query about whether the vehicles used as taxi cabs need to follow certain standards, Niesink said that SGI is responsible for overseeing that matter.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow