Taxi changes get green light from Halifax regional council

After nearly four hours of debate Tuesday, Halifax regional council approved all staff recommendations on changes to the municipality's taxi industry.

Theyinclude eliminatingthreeseparate zones that now exist, ensuringall cabs accept debit and credit cards, as well asmaking driver training and GPS in taxis mandatory.

The long list of amendments to the taxi bylawwill now be prepared for a public hearing and a final vote.

No mandatory cameras

Though there had previously been callsto make in-cab cameras mandatory, municipal staff argued the limited memory capacity of the camera systems would only give the public the illusion of safety. It would also be anadded cost to taxi drivers, staff said.

Coun. David Hendsbeesaid he was in support of the cameras, noting they are on city buses.

The idea, however, was ultimately voted down.

More taxi licences

Council also defeated a motion to try to limit the number of new taxi licences. The staff report recommended increasing the number to 1,600 from 1,000.

Coun.Steve Adams at first tried to limit the increase to 50 beforeagreeingto 300.

"Let's not dump 600 downtownbecause that's where they are going to end up," said Adams."Let's take this one step at a time."

But the municipal official in charge of taxi licensing insisted the smaller number of licenceswould not improve service and could hinder efforts to get more female drivers into the industry.

"There are not enough cars, we know there's a supply issue," said Sally Christie."And the only way to address that is to increase the limitations."

Uber and Lyft interested in Halifax

Regional council also agreed toa followup study of so-called ride-hailing operations such as Uber and Lyft.

"Has Uber contacted us? Yes, indeed they have.They are very anxious to come into the Maritimes," explained Christie.

A recommendation to ask the province for the power to give business grants to drivers who operate accessible cabs was also approved.