The Town of Essex is waiving licensing fees for taxicabs for over one year.
Council met Monday night with one report recommending that the fees be waived as a way to bring more taxicab interest to the town.
The town only had one licensed taxicab registration for 2023 and 2024, and zero licensed taxicab registrations for 2025.
This conversation to waive the fees stemmed from a discussion to increase transportation options in Essex based on a Police Service Board meeting that reported drinking and driving had increased.
The current taxicab bylaw has licensing fees set at $300 for the Taxicab Owner Licence and $170 for the Taxicab Driver's Licence.
Unanimous support from council will now have the Owner Licence set for $0, and the Driver's Licence set for $20 from December 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.
Cory Simard, Manager of Legal, Licensing and Enforcement with the Town of Essex, says a local taxicab service can be more reliable than apps such as Lyft and Uber.
"It's more likely that they are able to pick you up sooner in your community. The difficulty we've seen with apps like Uber and Lyft is that if there's not a driver within the area, it will take a long time because of course it's going to be in the most populous area like Windsor."
Essex mayor Sherry Bondy says this is good news.
"I also think not everybody wants to use Uber or Lyft... we do have seniors in our community and they may feel more comfortable calling the red and yellow cab service. So, I'm happy to see it."
Bondy says this came at a perfect time after Leamington council decided to end a transit service running between Leamington to Windsor in the spring of 2026.
"I know that taxicabs are more money than a bus fare, but it's also something. Affording a car is expensive, and when we first heard that the Leamington to Windsor bus was cancelled, I hopped on the bus and I looked around, and I was actually pretty heartbroken that we're losing this bus."
A report will come back to council in early 2027 with the results of how waiving the fee went.
According to administration, the cost of processing taxicab licence applications will be absorbed in the Operating Budget for the next year.