The Ministry of Transport is committed to improving transportation options for Bermudians. To that end, we conducted an extensive consultation exercise to provide Bermudians with the opportunity to let their voices be heard on every aspect of transportation in Bermuda. The feedback we received was impressive and helped to craft our Green Paper on Transportation and identify options that can help make Bermuda an even better place to live and work.
The feedback we received reflected what many of us already knew. Availability of taxis at critical times remains a challenge. We listened to the public and to address this longstanding and seemingly worsening challenge, I recently announced that special taxi permits will soon be made available to purchase by the public. This is the quickest and most efficient way to get more taxis on the road to provide transportation during our busy tourist season.
Currently, we have four services for dispatching taxis and limos. These dispatchers provide data to the government for analytical purposes. This data, coupled with feedback from tourism stakeholders and the general public, allowed us to identify critical times and locations when locals and tourists are unable to secure transportation. There are a number of individuals willing and able to drive taxis, but they are unable to do so because some owners have declined to make their taxis available for rent. This, along with other factors such as some drivers choosing not to work during unsociable hours, results in a shortage of taxis, specifically at certain locations and times of the day. It is for this reason we are looking to introduce special taxi permits. It is expected that the special taxi permits, which are to be used at specific times of the day and night, will, in the short-term, increase the taxi inventory to address demand where there are taxi shortages.
Since the announcement of the new permits, there has been an overwhelmingly positive show of support with persons from all walks of life contacting the Transport Control Department enquiring about the new permits. While I appreciate this, the public should be aware that we are still going through the process of implementing this new taxi permit structure and ensuring we adhere to the rule of law.
For example, while the permit fee is still under consideration, it is no surprise that members of the public, especially existing Taxi owners, are concerned about the cost. In making this decision, we understand it would be unfair for the Government to issue a special permit without considering the substantial investment that will be made by approved applicants. As such, we are looking at the options very carefully and have already decided to make the permits subject to an annual fee and assessment. Our goal is to get these taxis on the road and running before the end of July.
I also wish to make it clear to existing and potential taxi licence owners, that the new permit will be restricted to working times that fill the identified service gaps. The proposed hours are from 3:00pm to 6:00am and this will be finalized soon. To ensure all regulations are adhered to, the special permit taxis will be required to register with a dispatcher who will send them work only during the permitted times.
It is important to note that as per the law, the Minister of Tourism and Transport may increase the number of special permits, but it is the Public Service Vehicles Licensing Board that is responsible for granting the permits.
This initiative, once launched, will be closely monitored over the year and decisions will be made whether or not to provide additional special taxi permits.
Many of the ideas Government will implement came from the hundreds of recommendations offered over the Transport Green Paper consultation period. I again want to acknowledge our residents, students, and managers within public authorities, business groups and visitors, for their contributions to improving transport in Bermuda.
I look forward to working with stakeholders to fix these problems which have festered for years without resolution. In tourism and transport, we cannot let attachments to the past prevent us from modernizing the future.
We were elected to fix problems and must move forward to make transportation better while providing more Bermudians the opportunity to earn a living and benefit from our growing tourism economy.
Thank you.