Foulkes: Government looking at ending taxi plate leasing

Minister of Transport and Local Government Dion Foulkes said yesterday that he has assured the president of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union that the government will review the practice of leasing taxi plates to drivers and bring an end to the practice, which he called “unfair”.

“We have had many taxi drivers who have been paying weekly rent and monthly rents for leased plates for years and in some cases decades,” Foulkes said.

Foulkes, who spoke to reporters about the issue outside of the Churchill Building, said many governments have dealt with this problem for years. He explained that the topic has always been a “vexing” one.

He said the union currently manages about 40 franchise plates on behalf of its members. However, Foulkes explained that he has received many letters and petitions from drivers who want to acquire their own plates and stop paying rent to plate owners.

He added that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process of making a decision on ending plate leasing, but said the Cabinet has agreed that examining the termination of it should move forward.

“I made an undertaking to the president of the union that we will begin that review and consultation again, so that we can finally bring an end to this unfair practice of having these taxi drivers lease plates for their livelihoods,” he said.

Foulkes added that the union provided him with a list of drivers who wish to come out from under the plate leasing system forged over the years.

Foulkes also revealed to reporters that the government is considering changing the color of self-drive license plates to white in order to better distinguish them from taxicab plates, both of which are currently yellow. Self-drive license plates are used by car rental companies.

“I think the consensus is that we change the self-drive plates to white, so that it will be clear difference between taxi plates and the self-drive plates,” said Foulkes. 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/foulkes-government-looking-at-ending-taxi-plate-leasing/