[Dion]

Deregulation of Calgary's taxi system would create new jobs in a time of economic downturn and help stranded people hail a cab much faster, says a study by a Saskatchewan think-tank.

Study author David Seymour of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy argues cabs are still too difficult to get in Calgary.

The regulated market has made it impossible for new drivers to enter the system, he adds, creating a bartering system between licence holders and those who want to rent licences so they can work.

Seymour's paper, released Thursday, says the number of taxi licences in Calgary has stayed virtually the same since 1986, at 1,311, with only the addition of 100 new handicapped-accessible vehicles in September 2006.

"While obviously welcome, that these should be the only increase shows how far behind city growth the licensing regime has fallen," the report reads.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...007/story.html