Regulating taxis

Feb 05, 2010 Editorial

In the last few years, we have witnessed a remarkable resurgence of taxis in our local transportation sector. In the previous two decades the minibuses had come to dominate the field to such an extent that few thought taxis could have staged a comeback.
Apart from breaking out of the shackles of the old fixed bus stops that had balked the average anarchic Guyanese (no queues in our line-breaking culture!) the minibuses were much cheaper than the taxis.
In Guyana that factor was of no small consequence to the man/woman in the street.
However today, in those same streets, taxis are literally jostling with minibuses for space – not to mention fares. There is hardly a village that does not have a “taxi service”; much less the towns.
Taxis are still more expensive than minibuses but that does not seem to be a deterrent any longer. We will pass over what that may imply for our purported “low per capita income” except to note that the money seems to be there to fuel the continued rise of the taxi phenomenon.
This bodes well for the economy as a whole because it feeds into our peculiar tourist trade that centres (at present) on the overseas Guyanese visiting relatives and old haunts on the coastland.
With that in mind, we were very heartened when last year, President Jagdeo made note of the need to bring some order to the burgeoning taxi field. He called for all taxis to be painted in some (yet undetermined) colour so that they would be more recognisable to the general user.
We agree that the latter need ought to be satisfied, but would like to suggest that may be another way of accomplishing the goal within an overall regulatory regime for the taxi industry, which we think is now necessary.
The insistence on one uniform colour for our taxis, we believe, will take away from the rich and colourful diversity that is part and parcel of our tropical heritage. One of the most dismal sights in Manhattan, for instance, is the sight of streets chockfull with their yellow cabs – even though yellow is normally thought to be a cheerful colour. It is the Stalinist uniformity that is depressing.
We would like to suggest instead that rooftop “taxi lights” signs be mandated as the symbol of taxi signification. These signs are usually made of fibreglass and there are a number of local firms that could supply the items in a jiffy.
The cost, not a factor to be ignored, would be far below that of a new paint job. Whether the lights are “on” or “off” would also signal whether the taxis are available for service or not.
And this brings up the opportunity for wider regulation. We believe that the “Taxi Lights” be sold only by a Taxi Commission that will also ensure that minimum standards are being maintained by operators. The Commission would be a state institution with branches in each region. The Commission, for instance, could ensure that taxi drivers are all properly licensed by the authorities and not through the “back door” as is so common.
Taxis should also be inspected annually by the Commission to ensure that in addition to the “road fitness” tests of the traffic police, taxis maintain sanitary and aesthetic standards that would have been agreed to by the various taxi associations and made public.
Taxis should be appropriately and sufficiently insured so that passengers would be adequately compensated in the event of accidents.
With the spate of taxi hijackings, we suggest that there should be some serious discussions by the taxi associations of the feasibility of equipping taxis with GPS capabilities.
There is at least one local company that provides such a service. The Association would also be the recipient and investigator of complaints against taxi operators and drivers. The latter must be held accountable to professional standards.
As matters stand, there is much abuse by taxi operators that goes unchecked because the offences may not be serious enough to warrant the intervention of the police. All in all, we believe that the President was prescient on the taxi issue but that there ought to be a more holistic approach.

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Regulating taxis

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