OAKVILLE BEAVER Saturday, March 21, 2009 · 10 Town ponders changes to taxi cab regulations By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF We have the HOTTEST new jewellery line in Canada. NOW is the time to create your own PANDORA Bracelet LIFE HAS ITS MOMENTS... 4 week anniversary with Jason 21st Birthday Party Trip to the beach Vow to buy fewer shoes Mother's Day - Don' t Forget Fri. March 27, 2009 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. My new favourite pair of shoes ...MAKE THEM UNFORGETTABLE Sat. March 28, 2009 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Special Gift with Purchase of $100 of Pandora Jewellery... get a FREE Silver Pandora Lobster Clasp Bracelet! Limits Apply. U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,507 · © · All rights reserved Oakville taxi drivers may not be getting ambassador plates anytime soon, but the Town is considering numerous other options geared towards improving their working conditions. The options, which included allowing taxi drivers to work independently, were discussed during a recent meeting of the Taxicab Review Committee. At the meeting, committee members called on staff to look into the introduction of an ambassador plate program, but only after the existing taxi plate (licence) waiting list of 46 people is clear. An ambassador plate program, first developed by the City of Toronto in 1998, is a none-transferable plate that allows taxi drivers to affiliate with any taxi company in town or work independently. Taxicab Review Committee member, Ward 6 Councillor Tom Adams said a regular plate has a market value of $165,000 to $200,000. An ambassador plate, however, is worth nothing because it must be returned to the Town when the driver retires. Because of this, Adams said it makes sense to allow those who have been waiting for years to get the type of plate they've been waiting for. "We've got a waiting list and I think it's fair to clear that waiting list before we change the world or change the type of plate being issued," he said. "Our waiting list is extensive. How long that list will take to clear is debatable." Adams said an ambassador plate program is worth considering because it takes away from some of the thorny issues such as how the regular plates are used in the after market. Others on the committee had concerns about such a program. They said the regular plates function like a driver's pension and removing that would impede retirement. The owner of one Oakville taxicab brokerage also voiced concerns that an ambassador plate program in Oakville would turn the town into the wild west as taxicab drivers would have little accountability if allowed to work for whoever they wanted or themselves. While an ambassador plate program for Oakville is not on the immediate horizon, drivers may still get the opportunity to work independently thanks to another motion by the review committee. If approved by council this measure would allow any driver who owned a taxi plate to operate in Oakville without having to belong to one of Oakville's two main taxi brokerages. As such, these plate holders would not have to pay dispatch fees, which range from $800 to $900 per month. "This is a mechanism where if they (the drivers) feel truly aggrieved they can walk away from that relationship and continue to operate," said Adams. "Many of them feel the brokerage fees are too high and they're not getting value for the fees they're paying, they're either not being dispatched to or they're taken off the air without a fair reason and so this is an option for them." Committee members also approved a motion to reduce the requirements drivers must adhere to to stay on the regular taxi plate waiting list. The current regulations require drivers to work 40 hours per week for 44 weeks out of each year or face losing their place on the waiting list. The motion approved by the committee will call on council to reduce this requirement to 20 hours per week for 24 weeks out of each year. "The reduction in the number of hours and weeks worked was in part a response to the concerns that were raised by many of the drivers that this particular set of requirements was too onerous and was subject to misuse in a way," said Adams. Adams noted this motion was also brought forward to recognize that many on the waiting list have already been in the industry for years and as such should not have to work, what he calls, extraordinary hours to keep their place on the waiting list. "The current regulations provide very little flexibility for somebody to take time off or go on extended leave or a host of other things," said Adams. Other motions approved by the committee recently included a requirement that plate owners actually drive a taxicab, a ban on the leasing of taxicabs and a removal of the requirement that to offer wheel chair accessible taxi service a broker must dispatch to at least 10 plates. The committee is also calling on staff to look into the possibility of implementing a number of policy changes within the taxi industry including the introduction of a dress code, the creating of a `Passenger's Bill of Rights' that would require drivers to issue receipts, the introduction of meters that provide receipts, bringing more plates to the town, a requirement for owners and drivers to have written contracts outlining work agreements, greater driver representation on the Taxicab Review Committee and a requirement for the rules and regulations of the industry to be posted with the Town. All motions and recommendations to staff still need to be approved by the Administrative Services Committee and then by Town Council. The motions are currently scheduled to come before the Administrative Services Committee meeting on March 31.