Fare is fair: New rules will let Norfolk taxi companies

[The Dark Knight]

Fare is fair: New rules will let Norfolk taxi companies set their own prices



Having cab fares frozen while expenses shot up meant HNT Taxi in Simcoe operated at a loss last year, according to owner Rene Watt. PHOTO BY J.P. ANTONACCI /Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Cab fares in Norfolk County have been frozen for years, causing some taxi companies to veer into the red.

A change to the municipal licensing bylaw should help steer cabbies back to profitability.

Councillors voted to let Norfolk’s nine licensed cab companies determine their own fares, rather than the municipality setting the rate.

The change cannot come soon enough for Rene Watt, owner of HNT Taxi in Simcoe.

“Gas prices have doubled. My insurance more than doubled,” Watt told The Spectator.

The rising cost of parts and repairs further eats into his bottom line.

“We had a physical loss last year,” said Watt, who drove a cab in Delhi before founding HNT in 2019.

“I shouldn’t be still having to put my money into a company that’s five years old,” he said.

Several cab company owners approached council about the rate freeze more than a year ago, but talks stalled. And while other businesses in Norfolk can raise prices in response to inflationary pressure, taxis cannot, despite fares being their only revenue source, Watt noted.










www.norfolkandtillsonburgnews.com/news/local-news/fare-is-fair-new-rules-will-let-norfolk-taxi-companies-set-their-own-prices-2