Residents could notice a slight change when hopping in a cab if an amendment to the the Region of Waterloo taxi bylaw is passed at a regional council meeting on Wednesday.
The amendment calls for an increase in the meter drop rate from $3.50 to $4.50 and additional money to be filtered into the accessibility fund in an attempt to support companies in obtaining and using accessible vehicles.
Radenko Ivanisevic, president of City Cabs, said the drop rate hasn't increased in 14 years.
With goods, services and wages all having gone up in that time period, the increase is needed, he believes. The prices of cars, maintenance and mechanics rates have also gone up, he said.
"About 6 months ago, all four taxi companies agreed to increase the drop rate to $4.50," Ivanisevic said in an email to CambridgeToday.
"The taxi industry is exposed to rising overhead costs just to operate and the increase only helps keep pace with that."
Ivanisevic said insurance is another issue, running on average an extra $1,000 annually despite clean driving records.
With all the inflationary increases, he admits his company is "just trying to survive in this business."
Thomas Hudacin, manager of licensing and enforcement services at the region, said raising the drop rate simply brings it more in line with other municipalities.
There are no changes planned for the per kilometre rate.
As for the accessibility fund, the goal is to level the playing field and encourage operators to invest in more accessible vehicles.
Hudacin said the region takes seven cents per ride from auxiliary transportation services such as Uber and Lyft in part to bolster the accessibility fund.
"The additional funds have to do with an increase in volume," he said.
"Their numbers climb every year and we're going to be getting the current rate in funding."
Ideally, there would be 21 accessible taxis in the fleet but currently there are around 17 on the road at any given time.
Rides using accessible taxis take longer due to the on load and offload times but owners can't charge for that additional time, making it more difficult to convince owners to invest.
By helping to incentivize them, it will hopefully bolster the fleet and cut down on wait times.
"For the general public there will be no impact," Hudacin said in regards to taxpayers or those utilizing the accessible vehicles.
"We're trying to support those in our community that require accessible transportation and it's our way to support the taxi services."
