October 18, 2023
At the end of 2022, the Passenger Transportation Board (Board) completed a review of the Board’s taxi meter rules, policies, and procedures. The review was initiated to ensure taxi meter policy was aligned with the Passenger Transportation Act (Act), the Board’s data requirements, the evolution of meter technology, policy modernization, and rates-related policy projects.
As a result of this review, the Board has created a new Rates Rule – Taxi Meters Rule. The new rule combines the taxi meter requirements previously found in the Standard Rules for Taxicab Rates and the soft meter requirements previously found in the BC Taxi Soft Meter Rule. The standard rule was also updated and is now called the Rates Rule – Standard Rule for Taxi Rates. These rules can be found in the Rates Rules Manual on the Board’s website.
Minimal changes in the new taxi meters rule
The Board has the authority to make rules related to taxi meters under section 7(1)(g) of the Act. The Board’s review of taxi meter policies and procedures consisted of an examination of current Board rules and policies, a jurisdictional scan, research into meter technology and standards, and consultations with key stakeholders.
Following the review, only minimal changes were made to create the new Rates Rule – Taxi Meters Rule. The changes mainly involve bringing previous rules about taxi meters together into one rule with a modern format and updated terminology.
Taxi meters: an ideal future
In the future, the Board may wish to stipulate new technological requirements for taxi meters. The Board would like to see more BC taxi licensees using either smart or soft meters, with a move away from analogue meters.
The outdated technology of analogue meters makes them largely inflexible, hard to program, and difficult for taxi licensees to meet data reporting requirements.
The Board recognizes, however, that there are cost implications for taxi businesses in changing from analogue meters to either smart or soft meters.
As the industry continues to recover from the pandemic, the Board encourages all licensees to consider making this change for the long term.