Fort St. John Cabs, which owns and operates Teco Taxi and Fort Cabs, has applied to increase their taxi rates by 7.3 per cent, a move that Fort St. John City Council called unfortunate, and Taylor Council found unreasonable.
Using BC Consumer Price Index data from March 2022 to June 2023, the Passenger Transportation Board decided to allow taxi companies to request a 2023 Taxi and Limousine Cost Index increase of up to 7.3 per cent. It was this decision that Fort St. John Cabs has based its decision to hike rates upon, according to the documents provided to the councils.
The cab company’s owner, Tag Gill, submitted copies of his application for a rate increase to both municipalities, stating that the copies were “for information purposes only. Local government action is not required.”
Councillor Trevor Bolin brought the item forward for discussion at the Oct 10 regular council meeting and called the application for a rate increase “unfortunate news.”
“The good news is there’s actually a brand-new cab company that just got approved, that is independent of them,” Bolin said. “And there is another cab company that got approved for two more plates.”
“So, we will actually have three independently separate cab companies on the road in the next week or so. That is great news.”
When the same item came up at Taylor Council’s meeting on Tuesday night, Councillor Michelle Turnbull wondered “why are they raising their rates if they’re not improving their service.”
Other councillors agreed, noting that Taylor residents cannot get a cab to their community, and that Fort St. John Cabs doesn’t have accessible cabs under either of their banners.
Feeling that these factors do not justify an increase in rates, Taylor council voted to write a letter to the Passenger Transportation Board expressing their concern, with copies to MLA Dan Davies, MP Bob Zimmer and the UBCM, among others.
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