It was a mixed bag of opinions at a public meeting regarding a new Vehicle for Hire bylaw in Chatham-Kent.
The meeting was held on Wednesday at the Chatham-Kent Civic Centre. Municipal officials attended the session to receive public input on a draft bylaw, which recommends repealing the current Taxi Bylaw and replacing it with the Vehicle for Hire Bylaw.
The proposed bylaw would regulate all vehicles for hire that carry passengers in exchange for a fee such as taxicabs. It would also regulate private vehicles for hire, including private transportation companies (PTCs) like Uber and Lyft.
Some of highlights of the draft bylaw include:
- All vehicles for hire must provide insurance for carrying passengers, must meet vehicle safety requirements, and must provide police checks
- No plate limits
- No zones
- A dispatch office, along with 24-hour dispatch service, would no longer be required.
- The Vehicle for Hire Bylaw does not regulate fares or tariffs.
Local resident Terry Johnson, who spoke at the meeting, says the municipality needs to be very intentional and mindful about how it goes about structuring the bylaw and introducing PTCs.
"Access to food, the opportunity to get a job and an income, the opportunity to get an education... they're all very restricted for a lot of people in this municipality by lack of access to transit," explains Johnson. "There is a huge demand for better transportation and there is a huge opportunity to transform this municipality by meeting that demand."
Johnson says it's important that this demand is met for everyone, in places where cellphone coverage is poor, and for people without cellphones.
James Benoit, who is a dispatcher with Courtesy Cabs, is worried about losing even more business.
"Summer is coming, people aren't taking taxis as much as they do because they'll walk or take a bus," says Benoit. "At night time from 2am until 6am in the morning the first part of the week, there's no business... unless there's an emergency or someone going to the hospital. It's not really a needed service."
Rick La Marsh, a local resident who is wheelchair-bound, says it is very difficult for people with accessibility issues to get around Chatham-Kent with the way the system is now. He says cab companies will be unable to afford the changes to make their vehicles more accessible.
"They are not going to make enough money on it to pay that back driving regular routes. They don't have anything at night, so they're not going to spend the money because it takes a while to recoup that money with business the way it is in Chatham," says La Marsh. "Personally, I cannot see it getting better for people with disabilities, because there's no money here."
According to the municipality, council will receive a summary of the public comments and concerns received, as well as minutes from the public meeting when the draft bylaw and report are presented to council in May.
Public comments about the draft bylaw can be emailed to CKlicensing@chatham-kent.ca.
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