Regina city council approves 8 more accessible cab licences

City council in Regina has approved a plan to boost the number of accessible cabs, despite opposition from some cab companies.

A lottery will take place to add eight new licences, in a move to make accessible cabs more available.

However, cab companies told councillors that such a plan would be bad for them.

They're worried that adding eight more cabs will mean less money for the drivers who currently work for them.

"You're going to kill the cab business," Delno Van de Kamp, from Van De's Accessible Transit in Regina, told council members.

He said there are vans that don't do more than one accessible trip per day, and asked council to wait until more data is available on usage in Regina.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission said it approves of the plan to add eight licenses, noting that from April to September it's very difficult to get a cab that is accessible.