Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The new head of the Mobility Institute of Quintana Roo (Imoveqroo) says they are going to revisit the idea of taxi meters. Rafael Hernández Kotasek, who took over the position last month, says the proposal had not been presented even though the Institute had hoped to have them installed this year.
According to Hernández Kotasek, the proposal had remained stagnant but will be revisited within the next few weeks. He says he has meetings planned with the state’s taxi unions to discuss the implementation of the meter system.
“We are analyzing it because the taximeter is a very good tool. We are going to meet with the representatives of the taxi unions to evaluate the implications that this new method of charging could have because the population is in preference of having a specific rate, and with the implementation of the taximeter, this would bring changes in the methods of charging and the amounts for each trip.
“We have to see where and how many taxis would use it and determine the areas where it would be applied,” he explained.
Hernández Kotasek said that taxi drivers are charged for permits to operate in certain areas which is reflected in the current fare method. A driver pays more for a permit to operate in a federal area than they do in a non-federal area, something the meter system would not reflect.
He says the current roulette wheel of fares allows them to regulate those rates.
“When you live in federal zones or in tourist cities there is an additional condition in the taxi system. If you have a federal system and you pay a permit to be in that zone, then many times the taximeter does not reflect it.
“On the other hand, if it is a taxi that operates on a roulette wheel so to speak, which is the concept that is currently used, that method serves more to regulate the rates. This is why we need to analyze where it would be implemented.”
Since 2023 the state has been talking about implementing a taxi meter pilot project in around 100 cabs, however, that never transpired. Hernández Kotasek says part of the delay is the rejection of the proposal by some unions who say with a meter system they would not longer be allowed to operate as collectives.
