Quebec City, Quebec – A recent act from the Quebec government is aiming to clear the path to a post-taxi future for the province while ensuring that existing drivers and their vehicles can be grandfathered into the system.
The Act Respecting Remunerated Passenger Transportation by Automobile (CQLR c T-11.2) came into effect on Oct. 10 and outlined the new standard for taxi and rideshare services in the province of Quebec going forward.
The province laid out three regulations that provide the scope for what will be required from drivers, dispatchers and organizations.
A general regulation will cover the new terms of qualification for dispatchers, drivers and their vehicles.
This regulation states that all drivers and their vehicles must be qualified by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), but includes the stipulation that the vehicles of pre-existing taxi owner permit-holders are considered qualified up to the point that their permit expires or until March 31, 2021.
As well, to be a qualified automobile, a vehicle must be fewer than four years old, have fewer than 80,000 km of mileage and meet certain general standards with respect to dimensions and mass. Vehicles older than four years or with more than 80,000 km of mileage on their odometers will be subject to a mechanical inspection.
Regardless of vehicle age or condition, all qualified vehicles must be equipped with a geolocation device enabling the vehicle to be located in real-time.
The second regulation laid out in the act concerns the transmission of information from operators to the government.
This regulation includes the obligation of operators and registered dispatchers to send annual reports to the Commission and to the Minister of Transport, dated March 1 annually, concerning the departures and final destinations of trips. These reports will begin to be due on March 1, 2022, for trips carried out beginning October 10, 2021.
Rideshare and other organizations that use automated dispatching services will already be required to provide monthly reports to the Commission and to the Minister of Transport under sections 35 and 51 of the regulation.
The third regulation, concerning driver training, mandates the minimum hours and test scores of training.
A minimum of 15 hours of basic training must have been completed by the driver and also have obtained a minimum score of 75% on a written examination given by the SAAQ. The training regulations also provide for advanced training on the transportation of persons with disabilities.
Drivers who held a taxi driver’s permit before October 10, 2020, are exempt from basic training at all times
For the time being, it is planned that the basic training courses will be given online and that those for the advanced training will be hybrid (online and in-class).
