Proposed taxi rate increase will hurt low-income people, says anti-poverty advocate

Taking a cab in St. John's might soon get more expensive as city council is considering a proposal toraise taxi rates by almost 25 per cent.

The current rates are $3.75 for the flag rate, which is the initial fee charged when a customer gets in the cab, $2 per kilometre and $32.50 per hour of waiting time. These rates would increase to $4.50 for the flag rate, $2.50 per kilometre and $40.50 for the hourly waiting time.

While the flag rate would increase by 20 per cent, both the distance rate and hourly waiting-time rate would go up by 25 per cent.

A report for Wednesday's meeting of the committee of the whole notes the owners of St. John'staxi companies Bugden's, City Wide, Independent, Jiffy and Newfound, which make up about 95 per cent of the taxi licences for the city, asked council for an increase. The report, prepared by Jason Sinyard, the city's deputy manager of planning, engineering and regulatory services, recommends accepting the increase.

The city testedhow the increased rates would translate to commonly used routes. For example, a trip from downtown St. John's to St. John's International Airport jumped from $21.25 to $26.00 up 22 per cent.

Derek Hayter, manager of Newfound Cabs, said the request comes as operating costs rise, highlighted by a jump in insurance costs and fuel.

"The price of insurance has gone through the roof, it's up over 200 per cent. Gas is up over 50 per cent over what it was the last time we had a rate increase and just generally the operating costs of the companies, everything has gone up," Hayter said Monday.

In December, the price ofgas was about $1.20 per litre on the Avalon Peninsula; this month, alitre costs about 40 cents more. The consumer price index for transportation in the province has increased by 19 per cent during the same period.

The change in taxi rates would be the first in a decade in St. John's. Hayter said operators had discussed a price hike a couple of years ago, before COVID-19 put a wrench in the process.

"We can't put it off any longer. The drivers are losing out, the owners are losing out. The costs are just far and away more than we can cope with," he said.

"We're looking at how much things have gone up, and trying to basically look at the way inflation has been. We'll figure it all out, average it all out, and go for a certain amount which we figure reflects the change over the last several years."

'It's a major concern': advocate

This increase will hurt low-income people who depend on cabs, says St. John's poverty-reduction advocate Dan Meades.

"Folks are taking the bus when they have extra time to be super-late for something," Meades said. "But to get to work with a shift starting or to get to a medical appointment, that's just not an option. And so it's a major concern."

Meades said council decisions on public transportation have hurtlow-income earners before, citing recent cuts to public transit and sidewalk clearing.

"Every time they make these decisions, they can choose to make decisions that are going to help vulnerable people or are going to hurt vulnerable people. And sadly, city council's proving that they're going to continue to hurt vulnerable people," he said.

Without an increase in the sidewalk-clearing budget, said Meades, walking in St. John's is dangerous in the winter.

"People have got to take a car. If you don't have one or you can't afford one, that means taxis are the way to go. This 25 per cent increase on taxi rates penalizes poor people the most because they're the ones who have no choice but to take taxis around," said Meades.

In a statement to CBC News, the city says the recommendation will be debated at city council's Nov. 15 meeting.

"We recognize the impact that a taxi fare increase will have, especially on people who rely on this service for transportation," said Coun. Maggie Burton.

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