(Fort McMurray Today, October 15, 2013)

Complaints by taxi drivers of a rate decrease under the city’s new bylaw have revealed that Fort McMurray’s cab industry may have been overcharging by as much as 30% for a number of years.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo held a special meeting of its Taxi Advisory Committee Saturday to discuss how to address concerns of cab drivers over the rate levels set in the new bylaw, which took effect October 1.

Drivers brought their cabs to the city to have the meters set for the new bylaw, which was supposed to increase rates by 11% according to Zia Rehman, a driver acting as a spokesperson for the protest. But Rehman says the new rate, $1.43 per kilometre, is at least 20% less than under the old regime, which was around the $1.70 level.

For more reading on the Fort McMurray taxi bylaw, check out this September 2013 piece I wrote about a driver’s lawsuit against the city over the new bylaw.