Integrated taxi service to be launched in MoBay

WESTERN BUREAU:With some 16 years' experience in the transportation sector, president of the St James Taxi Association, Dion Chance, is seeking to revolutionise taxi service in Montego Bay, St James, with a new private venture.

Chance has invested more than $1 million to provide an integrated call-and-pick-up taxi service for the western city.

The family-run entity is called D&A Taxi Service and will fully roll out its service this month under the stewardship of Dion, Ainsley, and Devroy Chance.

"We realised that MoBay needs an efficient and reliable call-and pick-up taxi service that is affordable," Chance explained. "What exists now is an informal system where someone may know a taxi operator and ask them to do a pickup. And we want to change that and implement a system similar to what exists in Kingston."

He added that with the expansion of the city and how the town has evolved over the years, the time has come for Montego Bay to have an affordable transportation service that befits its city status.

The proposed taxi service will be operating on a 24-hour basis. Calls will be dispatched from their office to the drivers, and the use of technology will provide a tracking and safety feature.

"There is no hackney carriage service in MoBay. Our intent is to raise the standards of transportation from the vehicles we use, to the kind of service customers receive. Everything will be first class and cost effective. It will be open to ordinary passengers to corporate clients," Chance said.

President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Davon Crump, said the taxi service would be integral to the city, especially as it continues to expand.

"A service like this is long overdue and this will bridge the gap between the service offered by the JUTA and the route-taxi operators," Crump emphasised.

"Such an enterprising effort is something we welcome at the chamber, especially at a time when affordable and reliable services have become a necessary link for organisations, and transportation is part of that link."