For the last seven years, transportation companies that tried to establish in Martensville, have been a bust. Now Martensville’s City Council has passed a bylaw in the hopes of providing regulations that will lay the groundwork for transportation network companies.
Martensville Community Economic Development Officer Dillon Shewchuk says the bylaw allows them to provide a particular set of fees, for instance, for a local taxi cab company established in Martensville, versus a different set of licensing fees for a company in Saskatoon which is operating in their community.
Shewchuk says drivers for all categories, be it ride-sharing, a taxi cab company, buses, or limousines – must have a Class 4 license. They also have to have a civic business license and liability insurance. As well, all vehicles must have a valid vehicle inspection certificate from Saskatchewan Government Insurance.
“As it has been adopted, I don’t think they like all the things that is in our bylaw today but again there are some of these things, like insurance, that are a little bit out of our control right now, but they are watching. So, we are sort of eagerly awaiting but through passage of this bylaw we wanted to demonstrate that we are very open to seeing this type of service to better serve our community and region”.
And Shewchuk points out the bylaw makes provision for Saskatoon Taxi’s, which do work in Martensville, to freely and transparently operate. Martensville does also have a Driver for Hire operation.