The Santa Cruz City Council reached an agreement yesterday to revise the taxi calendar for 2025, ensuring that more taxis are operational in the city from Monday through Saturday. This adjustment follows a request from Élite Taxi, which will prompt the drafting of a new proposal intended for discussion in the upcoming plenary session on the 20th.
This announcement was made by the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez (CC), alongside the Councillor for Mobility, Evelyn Alonso, during the Taxi Table meeting, timed with the second day of protests orchestrated by Élite in response to the council’s “non-compliance.” In light of this agreement, the association will suspend the demonstrations scheduled for the 10th and 17th.
Bermúdez expressed “the willingness of the council to maintain dialogue and address the issues raised by the taxi sector whenever necessary.” Both the mayor and the councillor addressed the concerns raised by the association that prompted the protests, reaffirming that “there is no non-compliance or neglect on the part of the council that justifies the disruption caused to residents, visitors, and businesses, especially at this time,” the corporation reported.
They underscored that “thorough adherence to agreements and a commitment to ongoing dialogue should provide adequate justification to resolve a situation that is detrimental to all, including the taxi sector.”
Concerning the 2025 calendar, the council presented a proposal akin to last year’s, featuring a five-letter system ranging from A to E to manage breaks from Monday to Friday, with even and odd-numbered plates operating on weekends. In response, the councillor disclosed that “Élite Taxi has proposed an alternate six-letter system, allowing only Sunday to use even or odd plates, thereby expanding the service vehicles from a five-day to a six-day distribution,” facilitating increased availability from Monday to Saturday.
Consequently, the service will reconstruct the proposed calendar; however, “from December 20 to mid-January 2025, all taxis will be permitted to operate at any time to meet the expected demand during the Christmas and Three Kings celebrations for shopping and sales,” a proposal slated for the next plenary session.
Regarding the complaint from the Port Authority regarding taxi drivers who declined to offer urban services to cruise passengers, Alonso stated that “a meeting will be convened to clarify these matters,” to which the mayor further commented that “even though this falls under the domain of the Port Authority, where we do not interfere, they should have reported these irregularities in advance, particularly by the company engaged by Ports.”
Other topics discussed included taxi licence examinations scheduled for the 19th at Pancho Camurria; the rescues, which have yielded 21 final candidates; the new app currently in the bidding phase; and subsidies for PMR vehicles, with the 2023 arrears to be covered by the 2025 budget.
