After months-long interruptions in cab service, Hay River is deleting a requirement that drivers agree to supply “24-hour taxi response” before they can run a business.
In January, senior administrator Glenn Smith said no cab companies were interested in serving the town, which had been struggling to find reliable taxi service since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
That has now changed.
This week, town councillors unanimously accepted a recommendation from their bylaw and policy committee to remove the 24-hour clause from Hay River’s taxi bylaw. Instead, drivers will be able to “dictate hours of operation based on supply-and-demand economics.”
While there have been no licensed taxi operators since the end of last year, the Town of Hay River says it has been in recent contact with three out-of-town taxi companies that “expressed some interest.”
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“The lack of taxi operations has had a significant negative impact on transportation within the community. A lack of transportation has added stress to local industry and government, including health services,” town staff wrote in a report dated August 27.
Staff say they consulted former taxi operators, who explained that the requirement to operate 24 hours a day was not feasible without “some form of subsidization.”
The new-look bylaw will also remove a requirement to connect drivers and dispatchers by radio, allowing them to use other devices like cell phones instead.
