Burlington licenses Blue Line Taxi to fill gap left by closure of city's largest taxi service

The City of Burlington has licensed the Hamilton-based taxi company Blue Line Taxi to address the gap in services left by the closure of Burlington Taxi in November.

Burlington Taxi stopped operating on Nov. 26 after the company struggled to find drivers and pay insurance rates on the vehicles. Scott Wallace, the founder of the 40-year-old company, said he had "lots and lots of work" but no one to do it.

The closure of the service briefly left the city of 190,000 people with only one taxi service, Gem Taxi. And Moe Amin, the owner of Gem Taxi, told the CBC that the service had only four cars and no plans for expansion.

To fill in the gap in service, the city amended its bylaws on Nov. 30 to encourage applications for taxi licenses.Blue Line Taxi has now been issued a license and thecompany began serving Burlington residents yesterday, according to the City of Burlington.

"I know we all welcome the news that taxi service can resume in our community as early as today, and in time for the holidays," Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said in a statement.

Blue Line Taxi will be providing 13 new taxi vehicles, Burlington Ward 4 city councillor Shawna Stolte said in a statement.

"It was unfortunate that these changes and amendments were not considered before the closure of Burlington Taxi as this could have avoided the subsequent transportation crisis for many Burlington residents," she said.

"But I am relieved that an expedient way forward was sought by staff and I look forward to the renewed commitment to this valuable mode of transportation for Burlington residents in the future."