Taxi, Uber fee to fund accessibility

Council has approved a proposal to add up to 30 cents to every taxi or Uber fare to fund improvements to wheelchairaccessible cab service in Calgary. Council voted 12-2 in favour of the proposal which includes a two-year pilot of a centralized dispatch service for accessible taxis. Only councillors Sean Chu and Diane Colley-Urquhart were opposed. Coun. Shane Keating was absent. The surcharge will be rolled out Jan. 1. Proceeds from the surcharge would be used to provide incentives of up to $5,000 annually to accessible taxi plate licence-holders. The city estimates licenceholders could collect up to $40,000 over the anticipated lifespan of a wheelchair accessible vehicle. One complaint that emerged repeatedly during discussions of the proposal at committee and again at council Monday was that there simply isn’t enough business to sustain taxi drivers who offer accessible service. George Chahal introduced a motion arising Monday urging the city to explore allowing accessible taxis to access to some of the trips currently covered by the city and other publicly funded services. Chahal’s motion passed unanimously.