Police Chief Scott Tod admits it has been a challenge trying to create a new taxi-bylaw which will include rideshare companies.
At Tuesday's police board meeting, Tod addressed the issue noting that October was the target for having the bylaw completed. The board is getting guidance on the new bylaw through a law firm in the Niagara Region.
See related: New taxi bylaw still under construction
Despite that help, Tod says it has been a long process for the Police Board.
"It has been a lot of work trying to capture everything that has been modernized in many other bylaws for the municipality, not just in terms of rideshare but school purpose vehicles and other vehicles that operate within our community for hire," said Tod.
"Identifying that has been an interesting task for us as a police service."
The next step is completing a draft of the new bylaw and sharing that first with the taxi and rideshare companies prior to public consultation.
"The idea was to give the taxi industry and rideshare industry an opportunity to look at the bylaw and suggest any changes that should occur and for us to have a consultation with them too," explained Tod.
"At that point, we would edit the bylaw and then circulate with the city solicitor's office to look at it from a legal perspective. Then we would do a public consultation to share it with the public in regards to any changes that have occurred in the bylaw.
Tod hopes the new bylaw will be ready to be reviewed and potentially accepted at the November Police Board meeting.
"I think it is important that we complete this but we also complete it in a way that it provides safety for the public but also provides companies within our town a fair competitive edge for them to share among each other," said Tod.
