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Transit proposal welcomed by many but taxi drivers fear for
their job
By Sean Michael Peddle
Charlottetown is one step closer to getting a public transit described
as tailor-made for this community by a consultant firm hired by
the city.
Angela Iannuzziello of ENTRA presented a two-bus option and a four-bus
option for the future transit system at a public meeting Oct 30
at the Charlottetown Hotel. Both options include purchasing an additional
bus as a spare.
The four-bus system would result in citizens of Charlottown living
as far north as The West Royalty Industrial park having set and
scheduled bus routes.
Their conservative estimate of the number of riders per year is
145,000 under the
two-bus system and 160,000 on a four-bus system, said Iannuzziello.
The service will set bus stops but users will also be able to call
a dispatcher who can have the driver divert from the route and pick
them up at their door, said Iannuzziello.
The startup cost of the four-bus option is estimated at $835,000,
and the two bus option will cost an estimated $499,000.
In outlying areas of Charlottetown citizens can call the transit
system’s dispatcher and a taxi driver will take them to a bus
terminal to board a bus. The taxi driver would collect a fare of
$2.
The remainder of the fare would be addressed by a subsidy to the
taxi company based on details in its contract with the city, said
Iannuzziello.
Taxis will play a role in a new transit system but some drivers
are left wondering about their futures.
It’s not clear if all of the taxi companies will be used or
will the city tender the contract out to the lowest bidder, said
Charlie Arsenault, a driver for Yellow Cab.
A few taxi drivers and a taxi stand owner referred to a predicted
figure of 20 per cent job loss in the Charlottetown taxi industry
to the new transit system when making comments at the meeting.
“I might be one of the 20 per cent that won’t have a job
because the business is not going to be there,” said Arsenault.
Taxi fares in Charlottetown are lower than other cities in Atlantic
Canada because of the lack of a public Transport System, said owner
of Yellow Cab.
The company did a 30-day study of Taxis in Moncton which uses metered
cabs and the results showed that over the same distance traveled,
Charlottetown taxis are 50 per cent cheaper. This is due in part
to the fact that many of the taxi users in Charlottetown are people
who can’t afford to own a car could not afford to pay more,
said Neil Harpham, owner of Yellow Cab.
The report needs ot be viewed by council before it’s released
to the public, said Terence Bernard city councillor. There is ample
time to discuss the options before the vote on the proposals, said
Bernard.
He advised the individual taxi drivers who pay the taxi companies
a fee to select representatives to meet with city officials.
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