MOUNT FOREST – North Wellington Taxi will no longer service Mount Forest, as of April 25.
“It was a hard decision, but we had no choice,” owner Debbie Galbraich told the Advertiser.
Overhead costs such as liability insurance and car maintenance continue to climb, but Galbraich, who also owns Listowel Taxi, said the company can’t raise prices for their Mount Forest customers.
In Listowel, the rates are higher, she noted, but in Mount Forest they “can’t really up the prices too much because then people aren’t going to take a taxi.
“I’ve been here long enough that I know people are not going to want to pay … it’s too small an area.”
Galbraich said part of the problem with overhead costs is the County of Wellington’s annual licensing fees and rules.
“The amount of runs I get, I don’t get enough to pay for it,” she said.
“By the time you pay the driver I’m lucky to get three bucks a call.”
Speaking with the Advertiser at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, she noted they’d only had about three calls in Mount Forest so far that day.
“It’s just not enough,” she said.
While North Wellington Taxi is the only licensed taxi company in Mount Forest, Galbraich said there are unlicensed taxis operating in the town, which she said is part of the reason North Wellington Taxi is getting less calls.
Galbraich said she didn’t want the closure to happen, and she feels bad for people who relied on the company’s service, particularly its elderly customers.
