Higher operating costs drive taxi rate increase in CBS

By Patrick Newhook/February 10, 2022

Conception Bay South council has approved a request from taxi companies to raise rates.

“Be it so resolved that approval be given to set taxi rates as follows, flag rate $4.50, distance rate per kilometer $2.50, and waiting rate per hour $40.50,” said Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse during council’s January 18 meeting.

This marks the first-time taxi rates have increased in 10 years despite successive rises in fuel costs and most recently, the national inflation rate.

Since the start of the pandemic, taxi companies across Newfoundland have faced other challenges as well, especially costs related to keeping vehicles clean in line with Covid-19 protocols.

The rate increase is the result of a request from a local taxi company in CBS, which asked council to raise rates to match neighboring municipalities’ rates.

“The city of St. John’s had recently approved an increase for taxi companies in town and it was brought to us that the rates had not changed, they had not had an increase in ten years and all of the expenses went up, the expenses of running a business, a taxi service business, so we really looked at this,” said Gosse.

Mayor Darrin Bent allowed the increase is necessary to help keep the service going in their town.

“I think that it’s absolutely unfortunate that we’re here approving increasing the cost of transportation to and from Conception Bay South because it’s expensive enough as it is, but the truth of it is there would be no transportation from Conception Bay South anywhere if the operators couldn’t afford to operate,” said he explained. “We have to ensure that the rates that we set are viable for the operators to operate so people have them to use, because if they were to go out of business, we would be in far worse shape of transportation here in Conception Bay South,”

Gosse’s motion to approve the increase passed unanimously.