By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s president is asserting that his members and the wider industry are “under siege” by individuals operating illegal rideshare services.

Tyrone Butler told Tribune Business that while the concerns surrounding unauthorised drivers, or hackers, are not new, the issue has grown in recent years and reports have been filed about rogue drivers attempting to attract passengers in tourist zones such as Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) and the Nassau Cruise Port.

He added that only authorized agents are allowed to charge passengers fares, and they must have the appropriate liability insurance in case of an accident. “The taxi industry is under siege right now with so many people encroaching on the landscape,” Mr Butler charged.

“In The Bahamas, the only persons that are authorised to take persons for a fare is a public service vehicle. Whether that be a private schedule or taxi or livery, or one of the authorised private franchises because their insurances carry a different liability than a private citizen, and so the liability on these public service vehicles is totally different.

“Here in The Bahamas, if somebody’s taking you in their own private car, they are totally responsible. So, it’s wrong for persons to put the motoring public at risk like that, and the motoring public should know that they’re taking a chance by riding and paying somebody for a ride and they’re not covered by liability insurance.”

Mr Butler noted that unauthorised rideshares can also pose a risk to The Bahamas’ tourism industry as they are providing services to visitors but have no oversight. “Servicing the local market is one thing, but when you’re taking passengers from places like the cruise port, the airport, especially persons who are just visiting the country, that could be a very dangerous thing,” he added.

“Since our country’s economy turns on tourism, I am very concerned about persons booking those online transportations and not understanding that they don’t have reliability when they get into these private vehicles.”

The new union president said the transportation market has become “lucrative” for many of the new taxi drivers, and the union is working on its website so passengers can book and pay for their rides in advance.

“With the introduction of an additional 700 new taxis, some drivers are now finding the local market a bit more lucrative than the traditional hotels and airport. Our new administration has been looking at this, and we’re exploring some new possibilities once we’re able to get our house in order, perhaps going to an online system once we get our website set up so you can buy transportation in advance,” said Mr Butler.

“We recognise that the local market is a big market, and we’re not closing our minds to it, because we believe we have the vehicles and we have the personnel. We’re all the new drivers to service that market, and it’s something that we will be going after. We are public service drivers, and as we have a responsibility to the public, and we will honour that commitment.”

Mr Butler added that taxi fares are set by the Government, and a “review and revamp” of the pricing system is also required to change the public’s perception that taxis have high rates.

“Taxi drivers have fares that are fixed by the Government. I think the pricing system needs a total review and a revamp. As the new president, I would like to have a look at the pricing system and see if we can go to a more simple pricing system, but the general public has this perception that taxi drivers are outrageous with their pricing,” he said.

Mr Butler added that the union is prepared to work with the Government to “clean up” the taxi cab industry, which he feels has been neglected for quite some time, and individuals have taken advantage of the “chaos” to operate unauthorised rideshares.

“The Road Traffic Department is a department that the Government needs to place more emphasis on because they have dropped the ball over many years and allowed this taxi industry to just run on its own. They’re partly responsible for the mess and the chaos that you see with these rideshares because this is not a new phenomenon. This has been around for years now, but it just continued to grow because nobody was paying attention to it,” said Mr Butler.

“The industry is a mess, and it is no fault of the drivers. It’s really a fault in the authorities allowing any number of persons to access the system through false pretences, whether it’s persons who may have some court matters, some violations of law, drugs, persons who may not have legal standing in the country.

“Any number of things you can find. Persons who are not entitled to be in the business may be in the taxi business, and that’s a challenge, not only for us in the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union, but also for the Government.”

The Ministry of Energy and Transport issued a statement on Friday advising the public that it is illegal to offer rideshare services.

“The Road Traffic Department is the only legal agency that can issue grants for the purpose of transportation for hire or reward. Members of the public are advised that it is illegal to offer uber or rideshare services to the public using private vehicles. Further, the Department is strongly warning the public that this practice is unsafe and dangerous,” said the statement.