Long way to go before accessible taxi licenses issued

A report is upcoming next month on how to roll out 10 new accessible taxi licenses proposed.

It was back in June that the Timmins Police Services Board decided to proceed with looking into the licenses.

On Monday, owners of the two local taxi companies got their chance to present their case and concerns to the board.

First up was Northern Taxi owner Dauda Raji.

He says his company would need some time after approval to get cabs retrofitted and on the road. He adds there are a couple other provisions he’d want looked at.

One of those things would be to allow regular patrons to have access during peak times and when there’s nobody with accessibility issues in need of the service.

The other is to take away a provision that requires a cab to be less than 10 years old to be on the road.

DAUDA RAJI’S SPEECH TO TPS BOARD

Vet’s Taxi owner Richard Lafleur is in agreement with utilizing these new licenses for regular patrons at times, but he’s worried about the cost.

Lafleur says one company took three years to have an accessible cab paid off.

He adds he’d like to see some fairness in how the licenses are doled out, detailing that some of the brokers that operate under the Vet’s umbrella may want a crack at the new plates.

RICHARD LAFLEUR’S SPEECH TO TPS BOARD

Police Chief John Gauthier will prepare a report, which will be made public next month.

The venture would then await city council approval in order to move ahead.