BARRHEAD - Taxi services in the Town of Barrhead will remain unregulated a little while longer.
Town councillors passed the first two readings of a proposed taxi bylaw unanimously, but then held off on the third and final reading after councillors questioned a section about advertising on the exterior of cabs.
Mayor Dave McKenzie first brought up the potential of enacting a taxi bylaw at their Nov. 29 meeting, saying it had "become apparent that some illegitimate taxi service providers are operating in our community" and as a result, "they were putting residents in danger by operating vehicles that are not adequately insured, or are not being driven by a properly licensed driver, among other issues".
The bylaw, which council directed staff to draft during their Jan. 23 meeting, requires all taxi services to have commercial safety inspections, proof of licensing, and to prominently display the name and phone number of the taxi business on both sides and the back of each taxi. It provides fines of $200 for first offences and $400 for subsequent violations of the bylaw.
The bylaw would also ban any other advertising material on the exterior of taxis. Coun. Anthony Oswald took issue with that clause, noting advertising could be an additional source of revenue for taxi operators. "I know they don't make a ton of money as it is."
Coun. Ty Assaf agreed with Oswald, saying that taxis in other municipalities have carried exterior advertising for many years. Coun. Rod Klumph said he preferred the ban as presented to make sure customers could distinguish cabs from other signed commercial vehicles and noted that the bylaw was silent on how large the signage for the taxi company had to be.
Town Chief Administrative Officer Edward LeBlanc said the provision was borrowed from another municipality's bylaw with permission and that staff did not have further rationale for it but could do more research and get back to council.
Klumph suggested that staff get information on sign sizes and advertising from other municipalities. His motion to table third reading pending more information passed unanimously.
