and pembroke is now under the knife.

I learned, thanks to
james
that pembroke taxi services, are now under a complete
review
of their practices and procedures.

Pembroke plans to bring its bylaw governing taxis in line with the province’s Accessibility Act.
Having developed customer service standards, the city will now have to contend with other standards dealing with employment, transportation, information and communication, the Pembroke Police Services Board learned recently.
In a memo, planning and building manager Colleen Sauriol noted that, pending provincial government approval of the Integrated Accessibility Standard, the municipality will have to ensure that owners and operators of taxi cabs are prohibited from charging a higher fare or an additional fee for persons with disabilities than for persons without disabilities for the same trip.
They must also be prohibited from charging a fee for the storage of mobility aids or mobility assistive devices. Furthermore, the city must ensure that cab operators place vehicle registration and identification information on the rear bumper of the vehicle.
As the police board administers the cab companies, the matter was being brought before the members. Board chair Michael LeMay said these amendments can be made before the bylaw is sent to city council for approval.
Police chief Dave Hawkins said the entire taxi bylaw is being amended at the moment. Mr. LeMay hoped the legislation will be available for review at the board’s next meeting. The new regulations will have to be approved by July 1, 2011 and July 1, 2012.
Ms. Sauriol also explained that with passage of the Integrated Accessibility Standard, there will have to be consultations to determine the proportion of on-demand accessible taxicabs required in the community. Consultation will include the city’s Municipal Accessibility Committee, the public and stakeholders, including persons with disabilities.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming month’s.