Mammoliti promises to end “open entry,” fix insurance for Taxis if elected mayor
Giorgio Mammoliti promised that if elected Toronto’s mayor, he will end open entry for Vehicles for Hire and make his first phone call to Doug Ford and tell him to “fix Taxi insurance.”
Mammoliti was speaking at an event organized for members of the Taxi industry in a North York banquet hall on May 15th.
“As mayor, I would not have control over insurance rates,” he told the room, acknowledging that insurance is a provincial issue and that it is Doug Ford’s job to fix the insurance situation he inherited from Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government.
“But what kind of city – the fourth largest city in North America?- can’t make sure insurance is available for its Taxis? Maybe City Hall should open its own insurance service,” he mused out loud to applause from the room.
Mammoliti also said that Toronto’s experiment with “open entry” has been a disaster.
“Toronto paid a consultant a lot of money to determine 5,500 cabs was what the city needed….now we have 87,000 vehicles cruising the streets? And we are talking about electric cabs and making the air cleaner? We should start by not having 87,000 cars looking for fares.”
In this case, the former City Councillor even gave hard numbers: “6,000 Taxis, and 6,000 rideshare. And if 6,000 isn’t enough for Uber, they can hit the road!”
Mammoliti is one of 102 candidates running to replace John Tory as mayor in the June 26th by-election.
