Taxi shield agreement reached

A battle over the design of driver-protection shields in Manitoba taxis appears to be at an end.

The provincial body that oversees Manitoba's taxi industry had mandated that all cabs install protective shields for drivers by the end of November — a deadline that had already been pushed back at least once over disputes about the design.

Wednesday, a government spokesperson told CBC News cab companies will be mandated to install a full shield separating the passengers in the rear of the cab from the driver in all of their cars.

It will be up to the driver to decide if they want to allow a passenger in the taxi's front seat area, the spokesperson said.

Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said Wednesday the decision to use the full shields came after an engineer's report criticized a half-shield design some drivers had already approved for use by the taxicab board.

The drivers who have already installed the half shields will be reimbursed, Ashton said.

"The drivers that put those shields in based on the initial decision of the taxi board they acted in good faith and we'll make sure they're not out of pocket because of this," he said.