Taxi rates in Barbados could soon be adjusted.
This was disclosed on Friday during a meeting between taxi operators, the Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and app developers, as drivers were introduced to a new taxi hailing application, PickUp Barbados, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds said it “bothered” him that taxi operators were being asked to follow the same model of operating from “before the 1960s”.
He said it was necessary for the Government to have a discussion with the taxi drivers on rates and how they were allowed to operate.
The Ministry of Transport and Works is responsible for setting the fares. One representative of the Ministry said officials were “considering revision of the rates and certain technology that should be in place”.
Although not providing a timeline, she promised that the Ministry would reach out to industry operators so they could look at “what is the best rate that can be put in place at this time”.
Symmonds said he would continue to encourage those discussions.
“We have to have this conversation on what fares are in Barbados and how they work fairly for everybody . . . . Where I can help I will help and where I can draw a line in the sand and say ‘this don’t make sense’, I will say that to you,” he said.
“I don’t feel it is fair and it does not make sense that if I leave the airport in an airport taxi to go to Bridgetown by the Bridgetown Port, I am going to pay $60 [and] if I leave the Bridgetown Port and coming to the airport in a taxi I got from the Bridgetown Port, I am going to pay nearly $100. I don’t feel that is fair,” Symmonds added, insisting that consistency was needed.
Describing the PickUp Barbados app as value added and “a step in the right direction”, the Minister said it was important that the taxi business was sustained when there were few to no tourists coming to the island.
The free app was developed by brothers David and James Hamel-Smith. It is already available in the Apple Store and is expected to be available in the Play Store in a matter of days.
By signing up on the app, users are able to locate a taxi in their area and “hail” it and see the estimated cost of the trip. While it is proposed that the minimum payment for a journey be $20, customers will pay for the distance travelled and the time it takes to get to the destination. They will be able to pay using cash or by credit card through the application.
David Hamel-Smith said the hope was to help taxi operators get more business, while encouraging more people to take taxis to their destinations and engage in cab sharing.
Registered taxi operators who decide to sign up on the app will still be able to operate as they would normally, but have the added opportunity of picking up passengers who hail them.
They will pay a 10 per cent commission to PickUp Barbados for every job done until the end of this year. The commission will double from January 2021.
Participating taxi drivers will be required to have a smartphone and data, as well as a bank account for them to receive payments from PickUp Barbados when customers decide to pay via credit card.
PickUp Barbados will be responsible for marketing the app to residents and visitors.
While several issues are still to be ironed out, including the minimum fare to be charged per kilometre, officials gave the assurance that they would ensure taxi operators did not lose out, while ensuring that fare prices were fair for commuters.
However, several issues were raised by the struggling taxi operators, many of whom said they were not pleased with the commission being proposed or the baseline fee of $4 per kilometre.
“Anything less than $5 per kilometre we are just making a loss. You are just driving in a deficit. If you make anything less than $5 per kilometre at a minimum of $15, you are just driving backwards,” one taxi driver insisted.
Meanwhile, President of the Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-op Society Ltd., Adrian Bailey, who said there were some 3 500 taxi operators on island, said that given the high fuel prices, the rate would have to make sense.
Describing the current fares as “outdated and archaic”, he said it was time for an increase, noting that the last rate adjustment was in 2007.
Taxi operators in Barbados have been pushing for a fare increase from as far back as 2016. The issue was further highlighted in 2019 when bus fares increased from $2.00 to $3.50. (marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
