City of North Battleford Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink discussed amending the taxi bylaw at Monday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

In the chambers

City lawmakers plan to update taxi bylaw

Aug 21, 2019 | 2:00 PM

The city plans to update its bylaw related to taxi operations to better reflect residents’ needs.

Council has authorized administration to amend the bylaw and bring it back to council in the fall. The city will have public meetings and a public hearing so residents can offer their input.

Currently, the city issues licences to taxi operators at a rate of one licence per 1,000 people. The new proposal is to discontinue that practice, which should help open up the door for other operators, and potentially ride-sharing businesses, Mayor Ryan Bater said.

“We know the province has done a lot of work on that file,” he said. “We haven’t had any expressed interest from those companies here yet. But there is lots to consider. Obviously, a big part of living in a community is the ability to travel within it. Taxis play a big role. So we want to ensure that we have policies that reflect the needs of the community.”

Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink said the city has received a number of complaints from people upset after being refused taxi rides.

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This issue might be covered in the city’s new bylaw – to determine whether taxis need to report refusals, to improve transparency, and to make sure prejudice isn’t a factor.

The new bylaw will outline how no one can operate a taxi business in the city from their home, too.

“What this will stop is anyone driving in the evenings calling themselves a taxi,” Niesink said.

For a ride-sharing type of company to operate, rides must be pre-planned and pre-booked.

Administration will create a draft of the new bylaw and present it at the city’s planning committee meeting, likely in October.

“There is still a lot of opportunity for public consultation,” Bater said.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow