A $20,000 review of Canmore’s taxi industry has recommended the municipality form a new committee to address issues and recommend regulations to council.
Western Management Consultants were hired to complete a review of the taxi industry after a motion last year by Councillor Sean Krausert directed administration to look at best practices for taxis and return with measures to enhance the safety, professionalism and sustainability of the taxi industry.
WMC’s Vlad Slavov presented the report to council at its July 5 meeting and recommended elected officials form a taxi services advisory committee, with key community stakeholders, with a mandate to implement recommendations.
“There are a lot of different recommendations that arose from this review and it is important the taxi industry has an opportunity to comment,” Slavov said.
While the taxi industry would make up part of the committee, other stakeholders proposed to be part of it include Canmore Business and Tourism.
Manager of protective services Greg Burt told council administration is looking at establishing a working group to address issues with the taxi industry, as opposed to a formal council-appointed committee format.
“Initially we were feeling it would be more of a working group,” Burt said. “Administration would report back to council on what is working and what may require regulatory changes.”
Slavov added the committee would evaluate recommendations to come out of the review, which included a community survey and engagement with taxi brokers, and provide input.
Those recommendations include, in the short term: implementing a customer feedback/complaint line posted in all taxis; addressing taxi bylaw enforcement challenges; review the bylaw; create taxi stands and loading zones; mandatory acceptance of debit or credit payment options and requiring explicit customer permission for double fares or ride sharing.
Slavov said the recommendations came out of a survey conducted earlier this year and a key concern for the public was professionalism of the taxi industry. He said a complaint line is a cost effective way to provide accountability to the industry and provide an opportunity for customers to report issues.
An issue for the industry, on the other hand, was inconsistency in taxi regulations that are currently in place. Slavov said Canmore’s taxi bylaw currently does not apply to shuttle buses or limousines and that was felt to be an issue by taxi brokers.
With another review of the taxi bylaw, which came into place initially in 2007, Slavov said the goal would be to create consistent enforcement and regulations.
Long-term recommendations included things like mandatory driver training on professionalism, safety and customer service; phased-in adoption of higher vehicle standards; incentives for wheelchair accessible taxis or low-emission vehicles; requiring dedicated dispatch operators who are not driving a taxi at the same time; streamline and improve the consistency of the vehicle inspection process.
“Although there is a critical need around some of these changes, we didn’t feel these would be simple or straightforward changes for a small operation,” Slavov said.
Another aspect of Canmore’s taxi industry that creates a challenge, he said, is that it does not have a unified voice or position.
“It makes it challenging for stakeholders like Canmore Business and Tourism to engage the industry when brokers have varied viewpoints,” he said. “It also makes it difficult for the industry to work together to achieve change.”
There were things, however, that the review did not recommend, such as standardized pricing and mandatory use of taxi meters. Slavov said feedback from the community showed the public is satisfied with the flat fare pricing that currently exists. The review also did not recommend limiting the number of taxi licences or brokers allowed in Canmore.
While administration recommended a collaborative approach to addressing the recommendations in the report, Krausert noted many of the items suggested would require amendments to the taxi bylaw.
“Hopefully we get there through a voluntary collaborative approach, but the end result is it is in the bylaw,” he said.
Council voted to accept the document for planning purposes, but Coun. Ed Russell did not support the motion. Russell expressed concern that recommendations in the report are too heavy handed with the local taxi industry.
“Even just accepting this for planning purposes, there are so many ways we intrude in how people conduct their business,” he said, adding he does not want to see Canmore go down the road of establishing a taxi commission like what is in place in Calgary.
“We are trading into people’s business affairs.”
