|
The taxi bylaw was back on the table Wednesday night (Dec. 9) as
Kincardine council again grappled with the terms of the agreement,
originally hammered out by the Kincardine police services board and the
taxi cab companies.
The two major hang-ups for the cab companies are a requirement for
$2-million liability coverage per taxi vehicle, and the 10-year age
limit for a taxi cab.
Bob Wilson of the police services board was to make a presentation at
the meeting but was unable to attend due to the snowy weather. Council
discussed whether to postpone this issue but decided to proceed, with
Wilson's comments attached to the decision.
Karen Page, representing the cab companies, said it's been four years
since work began on this bylaw and it has come forward in different
forms and different drafts. "This is the worst draft," she said. "We
asked for things to be included but they have not been taken into
account. If you read over the bylaw, you will see how it would affect
your business. The town has 13 vehicles that are over 10 years old; are
they safety-checked yearly?"
She said the proposed Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will also impact the
taxi business because it adds extra costs for the passengers, many of
whom can barely afford a cab now. "We can't afford to put up our rates
and lose customers."
Mayor Larry Kraemer said the HST is outside the municipal jurisdiction.
"But you're adding other expenses, such as the $500/vehicle for extra
insurance," said Page.
Deputy mayor Laura Haight said municipal vehicles are safety-checked
each year. "But that's not the issue," she said. "You're carrying
members of the public in your taxis, that's different than a municipal
vehicle."
Councillor Guy Anderson said he had no concern about the age of a taxi
vehicle provided it was safetied yearly or every six months. And he
would expect the South Bruce OPP to complete the checks on drivers as
quickly as possible. He asked if the municipality incurs any cost if the
cab company has only $1 million in liability and someone sues for $2
million.
"Yes," said Kraemer. "We have deeper pockets."
 |
"We are licensing the cab companies," said treasurer Brenda French, "so
we have some responsibility. We have to ensure all qualifications are
covered. Two-million-dollars in liability provides public protection."
Councillor Marsha Leggett, who sits on the police services board, said
the taxi cab companies and the board agreed on the original bylaw that
came forward over a month ago. "One-million-dollars in liability is not
enough," she said. "The OPP is recommending $2 million."
She said the cab companies were fine with a safety every six months, but
council changed that to annually. As for the 10-year age limit for
vehicles, she said council must make a decision on this and stop
bringing the bylaw back for discussion. "Let's take the bull by the
horns and get this settled," she said.
Councillor Gordon Campbell said the OPP can make the cab companies wait
a long time to get their drivers licensed. "We should have more
municipal control with that," he said.
"The taxi cab operators can sit down with the OPP and work something
out," said Leggett. "One application took only 48 hours to get the
licence. Don't blame us. The taxi cab owners can get off their duffs and
not pin all the responsibility on us. These are your operators driving
your vehicles."
Councillor Ron Hewitt said the police services board did a good job on
the bylaw and he agrees with the $2 million in liability, but would be
fine to extend the 10-year age limit.
"We could set it at 20 years which is the age limit for our firetrucks,"
said councillor Kenneth Craig. "Have them safetied every year and if
they don't pass, they're taken off the road."
Kraemer said the number of kilometres on a vehicle are a better
indication of whether it should be on the road, rather than the age of
the vehicle. "Age really has nothing to do with it," he said. "There are
some cars that are only two years old but have 100,000 kilometres on
them."
Page said most taxi vehicles are averaging 20,000 kilometres/year if the
company has more than one cab. If the company has only one cab, the
vehicle could be clocking as many as 40,000 to 50,000 kilometres/year.
Council agreed, in committee-of-the-whole, to require $2 million
liability insurance per taxi vehicle; and annual safety checks for
vehicles until they are 10 years old, with safety checks every six
months after that. A bylaw to that effect will come for final approval
at the council meeting Dec. 16.
|
for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...
