HALIFAX—Hundreds of new taxi licences are on the way after council voted in favour of controversial new rules for the industry designed to make it easier and safer to get a cab in the city.

Halifax regional council voted in favour of second reading for the bylaw amendments at its meeting on Tuesday, passing the new rules it directed municipal staff to write in February following a consultant’s report.

The sweeping changes will see the number of taxi owner licences, called roof lights by drivers, increased from 1,000 to 1,600. They also eliminate the Halifax, Dartmouth and county taxi zones, and require GPS and debit and credit in all taxis and additional training for drivers to address safety concerns.

The motion passed 12-3, with councillors Stephen Adams, Russell Walker and Richard Zurawski voting against.

Some drivers who went to a meeting earlier this year were in favour of the increase to 1,600 licences, while many established drivers argued the extra roof lights would destroy their livelihoods.

Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini has repeatedly criticized the industry, and on Tuesday he said people are choosing to drink and drive because it’s so difficult to get a cab home from downtown Halifax.

“Our taxi industry is truly broken,” he said.

“We have good taxi drivers, but the industry is broken and the things we’re talking about today are going to help to improve that industry so people can make better decisions.”

In late-July, Councillor Adams put forward an amendment hoping to hold a public hearing for the second reading of the bylaw. Public hearings are required for second reading of any land-use bylaws or amendments, but it’s up to council whether to have them for other bylaws.

Adams noted that Hara Associates, the Ottawa consulting firm that wrote the taxi industry review, talked to lots of people, but only 20 of them were taxi drivers.

The motion for a public hearing didn’t pass, and on Tuesday, Adams said he didn’t think the changes would solve some of the problems councillors hear about from residents.

“We usually make amendments and changes to make things better. This is not going to make a difference,” he said.

Adams said the extra vehicles on the road won’t necessarily operate late at night or in rural areas, so the issues of long waits downtown and trouble finding a drive out of the downtown won’t be solved.

The 600 extra licences will be added in increments over the next few years, according to municipal licensing manager Sally Christie.

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Christie also told councillors that a long-awaited report on enabling ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft to set up shop in the city is coming to council’s transportation standing committee in December.

During the last taxi debate, chief administrative officer Jacques Dubé told councillors that Uber isn’t currently interested in coming to Halifax.

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