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West End taxi firm goes out of business

SANDYS Parish has lost its dedicated taxi service ? a victim of Government's demand earlier this year that GPS dispatching be available through all cab companies.

The company's disappearance was branded an "inconvenience" by one former customer and "a pain" by another area resident, each having experienced problems in securing rides out of Somerset.

"I'm not so much upset, I just find it an inconvenience," lamented one person who used the service on an infrequent basis.

"We live in Somerset Village and, because we were drinking, called for two cabs to take a group of us to the Southampton Princess one night. Before, we generally had to wait between ten and 15 minutes for service. We waited for nearly 45."

According to BTA (Dispatching) Ltd. president Michael Ray, Sandys Taxi Co. Ltd. folded because its cab owners and drivers were forced to amalgamate with other firms on the island.

"Before February, there was Sandys Taxi, Radio Cabs and Bermuda Co-op," he explained. "When Government made GPS (global positioning system) mandatory, Sandys was not in a position to continue and the majority of its fleet bought into the BTA (Dispatching) Ltd. The others, I guess, went to Radio Cabs. Since March or April, the telephone number for Sandys Taxi ? 234-2344 ? will forward the caller to BTA (Dispatching)."

An angry resident contacted this newspaper complaining he had "been laughed at" by an operator when he called for service to Warwick before Hurricane Florence.

"I was in Sandys at a hurricane party on the Saturday night and tried calling the Somerset service. No one answered. I spent the night at a friend's and then tried to get home early the next morning, the day before the hurricane was due to strike.

"I gave up on the Somerset number and called another, the operator laughed at me saying that there weren't any drivers willing to come and pick me up. Finally, I got my friend, a girl, to come to the phone and order a taxi for me and eventually ? about an hour later ? one showed up."

The man admitted that aside from the Sandys number supplied by his hosts, he could not remember which taxi service he had called.

Mr. Ray said residents had not lodged complaints with his company, but conceded that area transportation could be impacted by Sandys Taxi's closure.

"I'm not aware of any Somerset residents having problems. I'd imagine they'd be fine during the day although at night the service is probably a bit worse. Most workers operate between Southampton and Smith's parishes ? that's where the nucleus of work is and we're mindful of that."

He said he was trying to get drivers to work with the system, encouraging them to let callers know how long they would have to wait so ? especially in the case of a Sandys Parish or St. George's resident ? the driver would not make the journey and find the fare had found an alternate means of travel.

"Suppose I'm in Southampton West, near Port Royal. The machine beeps and says there's someone waiting at Scott's Hill. I call the person and ask if they're willing to wait. Or say if I've got a job in town which is taking me to Shelly Bay.

"On the way down I can see there's someone at Shelly Bay waiting for a ride ? I'm trying to encourage the guys, especially if their jobs are in a busy zone, to call and say they're ten minutes away and see if you can wait or not.

"To my knowledge, there are only a few guys on our service who operate out of Somerset so, sure, there are some (calls) that are probably falling through the cracks but we're trying our best to make sure everyone has service."