The government plans to establish a Public Transportation Dispatching Unit under the Taxi and Livery Commission to oversee the training of dispatchers, among other duties, Deputy Premier Kye Rymer told the House of Assembly last week.
Mr. Rymer, the minister of communications and works, said in an Oct. 25 HOA meeting that the move will also address challenges faced by port security officers who often have doubled as taxi dispatchers at ports of entry around the territory.
“Thanks are expressed to those individuals for undertaking this initiative in the interim,” he said. Mr. Rymer added that the planned unit will be responsible for organising the movement of people to and from ports of entry; ensuring that an “equitable earning mechanism” is in place for taxi and livery operators; and providing the “highest standard of service” to travellers.
The body, he said, will also be charged with educating and training dispatchers in industry regulations. Taxi tariffs As the start of the 2022-2023 cruise season approaches, the move is one of several initiatives which the Taxi and Livery Commission will be undertaking in conjunction with the Ministry of Communication and Works, according to the minister.
A review of the existing taxi tariff is also planned, he added. According to Mr. Rymer, the current taxi tariff took effect on Nov. 26, 2010.
“Over time, the Virgin Islands has developed tremendously, and we must consider the rise in the cost of living over the last decade, as well as now developed areas that are not in the existing tariff,” he said.