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| Original News Release |
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| Original News Release |
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The Motor Carrier Commission regulates, licenses and adjudicates passenger carriers in British Columbia – inter-city, charter, sightseeing and tour buses, taxis and limousines – under the Motor Carrier Act. The commission is made up of seven commissioners appointed by cabinet. All serve on a part-time basis. One of the commissioners, Dennis Day, is chair of the commission.
The commission is an independent quasi-judicial body that reports to the Minister of Transportation. The minister may provide general direction to the commission but cannot intervene in the day-to-day operations and decisions of the commission.
The Motor Carrier Act was created in 1939 and has had no major updates other than the deregulation of the trucking and freight industry. As part of the provincial government’s core review, the commission made two presentations to the core review deregulation task force. Following that, the Ministry of Transportation was asked to undertake a regulatory review of the commission. Consultation with industry, stakeholders, the commission and its staff has now been completed, and changes in the way the commission operates are underway.
During the review, stakeholders expressed concerns that the current licensing process is too heavily regulated and is restrictive to new entrants to the industry. They also said it does not allow for innovation or response to market demands, and maintained that enforcement of licence conditions and against illegal, unlicensed operators is inadequate. They also reiterated many concerns raised in the Lanyon Report commissioned in 1998 to examine the state of the taxi industry in B.C.
Some recommendations from the Lanyon report were instituted in 2001, but the current government has gone much further. For example, new tough enforcement provisions and the expansion of the Motor Carrier Commission’s jurisdiction to include illegal operators were recommended in the report but are now being enacted. The update of the Motor Carrier Act is another commitment by the provincial government.
The commission investigates applications before granting or amending a licence for a passenger carrier. The motor carrier department, the operational arm of the commission, deals directly with licensed and prospective motor carriers. Until now, the department has fallen under the auspices of ICBC, but it is being transferred to the Ministry of Transportation on April 1 of this year to better support the work of the commission.
Streamlining of some regulations will begin immediately, with the new regulations expected to be in place within six months. Legislative amendments for the penalty sections of the Motor Carrier Act are being prepared for the spring 2003 legislative session. A revised mandate for the commission requiring regulatory and legislative amendments is being prepared for the spring 2004 legislative session. There will be no immediate change to licensing or compliance requirements and operators must continue to meet the requirements of the act and their conditions of licence. Carriers will be notified in advance of any regulatory or policy changes that may affect them or their licences.
Following are how the changes will affect the various sectors of the passenger carrier business:
Scheduled inter-city buses: This sector will continue to be regulated at the provincial level. Fare and schedule amendments will no longer require approval of the commission, only notification. A minimum number of round trips for each route will be established for all licence holders.
Charter buses: Charter bus licence applications and amendments will no longer be subject to economic regulation. Applications will be adjudicated on the basis of “carrier fitness,” which means the applicant must have the knowledge, skills and ability to provide service safely to the public.
Ancillary transportation services: An ancillary transportation service is one that is incidental to a service being provided, such as a van used to transport clients to a heli-pad for heli-skiing or passengers to a wine tour or white-water rafting site. Ancillary services will be exempted from the Motor Carrier Act.
Taxis: In response to concerns raised by the taxi industry during the consultation process, the industry will continue to be regulated by the provincial government. The Motor Carrier Act will be amended to specify fine amounts for operators who conduct business without a licence. Illegal operators will face fines of $1,000 to $5,000. Discussions will take place with enforcement personnel to devise a more effective enforcement strategy and the return of the motor carrier department to the Ministry of Transportation will facilitate better enforcement.
Limousines: Limousine applications will be adjudicated on the basis of carrier fitness rather than on economic criteria. Minimum fares will continue to be established at the provincial level as a condition of licence.
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