From left: Andrew Royer of the Dutch Taxi Association, TEATT Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Maya Friday of the Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association and Glen Emers of Down Town Taxi Association.
~ Want “ride sharing” initiative permanently abolished ~
PHILIPSBURG--Five taxi associations operating on Dutch St. Maarten have proposed a change to the existing tariffs, according to them, “due to the increased cost of living and inflation.”
In a letter to Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten, the associations said the proposed amendments to the current tariffs are also to “synchronise tariffs with the French-side Taxi Association which is presently in negotiations to increase their tariffs.”
“We met last week to discuss, among other things, their proposal to change the current tariffs for different districts,” Heyliger-Marten said in a press release. “At this point, the proposal is being handled by the Ministry and I can’t take a decision on it yet until I receive the necessary advice.”
However, she noted that the sector is “overly saturated”, with the previous administration increasing the number of taxi licences from 385 to 521.
Airport Taxi Association President Andrew Royer informed his membership that the meeting with Heyliger-Marten “was fruitful”. He said the agenda points discussed also included “improvement of the working environment” and “future plans for the taxi associations”.
Some highlights of the proposal from the five taxi associations include the “reintroduction of fares to the French side, which should mirror the current tariffs of the French taxi associations.”
According to the associations, the last updated tariff change was in March 2022.
The proposal also calls for the “ride sharing” initiative to be “permanently abolished due to its impracticability.” Furthermore, the taxi associations want the tariff layout to be formatted on one page for easier visibility and legibility to guests and tourists, instead of being published on multiple pages. They would also like to implement a minimum US $10 tariff within districts (e.g. from Cole Bay to Cole Bay, etc.).
Representatives of Airport Taxi Association, Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association, Down Town Taxi Association, Maho Taxi Association and Divi Taxi Services signed the proposal.
