Round 2 for vote on City of Regina's taxi bylaw review

Mayor Michael Fougere's executive committee will debate a series of proposed changes to the City of Regina's taxi bylaw, including a contentious recommendation on introducing a lottery system for seasonal licences.

In June, a report with a series of recommended changes to the taxicab bylaw was defeated in a tie vote by the community and protective services committee.

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Councillors spent most of the three-hour debate fixated on a single proposal: distributing seasonal winter licences directly to drivers through a lottery system instead of giving them to brokers.

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Proposed changes in the bylaw review include:

• Lottery for seasonal taxi owner licences.
• Brokers have to submit driver hour logs to the city.
• In-car surveillance must record audio, capture footage from front exterior of vehicle. 
• New guidelines for how many hours driver must use their licensed vehicle for in a three-month period.
• New provision that drivers can refuse a trip for safety reasons.
• Each licensed taxi broker must have at least one accessible taxi available for dispatch at all times.
• Brokers must ensure computer dispatch systems can receive emergency button distress calls from drivers.
• New $100 passenger cleanup fee.

On one side of the debate were cab drivers and a union representing drivers, which argued a lottery system would be more fair. 

Meanwhile, brokers and at least one taxicab owner-operators said the city's criteria for who could qualify as a seasonal driver was too broad and would negatively impact customer service as well as business planning.

According to a city report, the licences could be renewed for up to three years and be usable from October to April. Anyone over the age of 18 with a Class 4 licence — same as regular drivers — could have applied to have one of the 49 seasonal licences without industry experience.

Union 'gobsmacked' by last vote

Leslie McNabb, who represents taxi drivers with the United Steelworkers Union, said she was "gobsmacked" by last month's vote. 

"I can't believe that it's taking this long," she said of the transition to a lottery system.

She pointed out that last year, city council voted in favour of the change before sending it back to administrations for more review. 

McNabb also said Saskatoon is a successful example of a city with a seasonal lottery for winter licences. 

 "The quality of the service didn't go down, if anything it went up. I don't know what Regina's afraid of or what's going on there. It just seems suspicious."