Item - 2022.GL30.10

The General Government and Licensing Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council amend Chapter 546, Appendix A, Taxicab Tariff and Charges, to establish a taxicab fuel surcharge of $1.00 per trip that will form part of the total tariff paid by passengers, effective immediately upon the passing of the requisite Bills.

2. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to conduct a review of the taxicab tariff and charges and report back the results of the review to General Government and Licensing Committee and as part of the review consider:

a. The rate of inflation;

b. The price of fuel and other costs associated with operating a taxicab; and

c. Information received through consultations with taxicab owners and operators, vehicle-for-hire drivers, other industry stakeholders, and the public.

3. City Council direct that the fuel surcharge expire upon the completion of the review of taxicab tariffs and charges and consideration of the report requested in recommendation 2, or when City Council otherwise rescinds the surcharge.

As directed by General Government and Licensing Committee at its meeting of March 22, 2022, this report responds to item GL29.21 - Ensuring Accessibility and Equity for Toronto Taxi Drivers, which contains three recommendations:

- That the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards in partnership with Technology Services, invite the Toronto Ombudsman to review the digital business licensing portal used to apply or renew taxicab licences to ensure equity and accessibility, and consider possible language or technical barriers and their solution and report back,

- Retain third party facilitation for any large scale consultation or working group in the taxicab industry,

- Increase the taxicab tariffs by $1.00 per trip.

Since its launch in July 2020, over 7,500 new licence applications and 14,000 licence renewals were successfully received and processed by Municipal Licensing and Standards staff using the digital business licensing portal. Municipal Licensing and Standards and Technology Services worked collaboratively to design and launch the portal and have iteratively improved the design since its launch. Staff are committed to continuing to review the portal to ensure that it is designed to be as intuitive and easy to use as possible for all licensees, including people of varying digital literacy and English proficiency. 

Third party facilitation is a strategy that has been successfully employed by Municipal Licensing and Standards for other large scale consultation projects, and staff are supportive of retaining external facilitation services for major vehicle-for-hire related consultations and working groups.

Finally, staff are supportive of an increase to taxicab fares to respond to the rapid and unexpected rise in fuel prices that has occurred. This report proposes an amendment to Chapter 546, Vehicle-for-Hire Licensing, to implement a fuel surcharge of $1.00 to the taxicab tariff, effective immediately. It is proposed that the fuel surcharge be applied on a temporary basis until staff can conduct a fulsome review and consultation on taxicab tariffs and fares and report back about current and expected future costs of operating a taxicab, including fuel prices and rates of inflation to inform proposals for any changes to the taxicab fare structure.