Saint John taxi customers can expect to pay less as three major companies revert to zoned fares from bylaw-mandated meters.

Diamond Taxi Delivery Service was first to start using zoned fares again, and Simonds Taxi and Vet's Taxi followed suit.

People won't be so scared to take taxis. - Shelley Orr, co-owner of Vet's Taxi

Essentially, the change means a taxi driver will charge a customer the lowest fare under the two systems, zoned or metered.

"You cannot, by the law, charge more than the meters," said Shelley Orr, co-owner if Vet's Taxi. "But if there is a zone rate that is less, the customers will pay that."

In addition to the reduction in rates that zoned fares offer on some trips, Orr said seniors will receive a discount. She said most of Vet's day calls come from seniors, and many have been reluctant to try taxis under the metered system.

"So [we're] hoping to get the call volume up," she said. "People won't be so scared to take taxis."

Meters were first required in the summer of 2016 after common council amended the taxicab bylaw.

Shuttle companies have avoided breaking the bylaw by keeping meters running, and charging customers the lowest of the two fares.

The meter amendment was controversial, with many drivers saying meter fares were too high, but the push for it came partially from the desire of the previous common council to improve tourism and have non–road–ready vehicles removed from city streets.

While not a lot of time has passed since implementing the latest zoned fares, Orr said operators are hearing positive feedback from customers.

"There are a lot of people in this city that cannot afford the high, high fares," she said.

Meters keeping customers away

Kevin Ramsay, a driver with Vet's Taxi Ltd., said metered fares drove his customers away, but the new system takes money out of his wages too. Kevin Ramsay, a driver with Vet's Taxi, said meters worked at first but in the long run, drove customers away.

But he fears the company's changes come too little too late.

"Customers lost confidence in the system," he said.

Ramsay said the return of zoned fares might just add to the lack of confidence.

"It's right back to the confusion, back to the customer not knowing exactly what the system is," he said. "It's very Mickey Mouse looking now."

Since the amendment that brought in meters, Ramsay's fleet has been reduced from 200 to 100 cars.

Lower fares mean lower wages

He said customers don't realize that the savings they're making come out of his wages.

"They're saving a couple dollars off it, but I'm losing a couple dollars off it," he said.

But under the meter system, Orr said, the company has seen a 50 per cent decrease in the number of calls.

Sgt. Mike McCaig, taxi inspector for the Saint John Police Force, said the drop in calls is the result of fear-mongering at taxi stands..

"Scared the public half to death," he said. "Meter rates weren't much more off than what the zoned rates were."

Still, he said, nothing illegal is being done by the companies.

If somebody is not following the guidelines than we all deserve what we get. - Shelley Orr

The new fares were brought in to provide drivers a decent living, he said, and with this change "the losers will be the drivers."

But companies are free to make that decision.

"They're creating their own problem, working for nothing," McCaig said. "It's not fair to a driver to dictate, when the bylaw requests you to use a meter and charge accordingly, and you elect to give discounts at the expense of your driver's paycheque.

"Not very fair by a company, I'd say, but that's how they like to do business."

With lower wages, McCaig said car maintenance also becomes a problem. If he sees more inadequate vehicles as a result, he'll have to pull them off the road.

"You can't keep safe equipment on the road if you're not making any money," he said.

Orr said the taxi inspector has been strict lately, but strictness is good for the industry.

"If somebody is not following the guidelines than we all deserve what we get," she said.