An increase in maximum fares for people riding taxis in Lethbridge could be coming. Four taxi companies submitted a request the city approves the increased rates, noting the impact of rising operational expenses. City administration came to the community safety standing policy committee on Feb. 9 with a recommendation to support about a 10 per cent increase in maximum fares.
“Even before the request, we still have the highest rates out there so we looked at it, we canvassed the industry to see what they said and the numbers said they didn’t need to increase the maximum. When we looked at what was happening outside, a number of other communities were also increasing theirs and they were increasing it roughly between 10 and 15 per cent and we also looked at the inflation costs that the taxi industry is dealing with,” said Duane Ens, general manager of regulatory services. “We felt, looking at the numbers and looking at what the standard increase has been, we wanted to give some support to the industry.”
Ens noted city administration worked to find a middle ground, where taxi companies would find some relief, while minimizing impact on people who rely on the services.
Michael Arend is co-owner of two taxi companies in the city and said he found the recommendations mostly reasonable, though they were not all the taxi companies asked for.
“All we are doing is lifting a maximum, are cab companies going to charge that? Not necessarily — the increased charges are there as an opportunity to increase our rates at such a time that we deem fit,” Arend said. He said Lethbridge often has some of the most expensive fuel in the province and this increase can help drivers deal with it.
After a long discussion, the committee pushed decision making back until its next meeting in March. The proposed increase sparked a larger conversation about the reasons the city regulates taxi services. Councillor Ryan Parker compared the maximum price regulation to regulating prices at grocery stores.
City administration pointed out most cities have historically regulated the taxi industry, with Red Deer being an exception. Ens said city administration spoke to representatives there, with an agreement not to go into details, and they said the system is not working well.