Deputy Premier and Minister for Communications and Works, Honourable Kye M. Rymer, has approved new rates for the Transportation Industry within the Virgin Islands in an effort of aligning fares with the current cost of living and the cost of operating the service.

The revised fares are contained in Statutory Instrument 2022 No 106 - Road Traffic (Passenger Fares) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022, which was published in the Virgin Islands Official Gazette on Wednesday, December 7, 2022.  Section 66(1)(k) of the Road Traffic Act, Revised Edition of the Laws of the Virgin Islands 2013, authorises the Minister to make and amend regulations for passenger fares.

During the SEVENTH SITTING OF THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE FOURTH HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, held on October 25, Honourable Rymer by way of the topic of Public Transportation Dispatching Unit and Taxi Tariff Review said, “Over time, the Virgin Islands has developed tremendously, and we must consider the rise in cost of living over the last decade, as well as, now developed areas, which are not in the existing tariff.”

The Minister disclosed that the new tariffs are as a result of a meeting with the Transportation-for-Hire Industry on October 31, where the majority voted for the increase in the tariffs and proposed the now revised passenger fares amendment.

“We have updated the fares for taxi tours to all destinations in the Virgin Islands and island tours, as well as the cost of travel between cruise ship disembarkation and popular locations throughout the Territory,” Honourable Rymer said.  

 Minister Rymer added that, “The last official taxi tariff took effect 12 years ago, on November 26, 2010; and it is our hope that the new fares will allow our hardworking taxi and tour operators to earn a fair income as they provide quality service to the public, considering the domestic and international economic factors that affect them as they provide this service.”

The Taxi and Livery Commission ensures that Virgin Islanders, residents and visitors alike, have access to safe, efficient and reliable transportation-for-hire services,  ensuring a product of Transportation In Excellence.
 

Note to Editors: Attached Gazetted; VIRGIN ISLANDS ROAD TRAFFIC (PASSENGER FARES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2022