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On Thursday October 3, the elected members of the territorial council voted in favor of the introduction of a new fare structure for the island's cabs. The new rates will be applied until the next re-evaluation in 2028.
A "somewhat complicated" dossier, according to the President of the Collectivité territoriale, Xavier Lédée. In fact, it took more than two years for elected officials and the Saint-Barthélemy cab association to finally draw up a new tariff schedule. The document, which includes a revaluation of fares, will be in force until 2028. It was adopted at the territorial council meeting on Thursday October 3. Not without triggering a lengthy debate among the elected representatives. These exchanges were prompted by an amendment tabled by Dimitri Lédée, a member of the Action-Équilibre group.
Responsible for the "cabs" dossier until April 11, Dimitri Lédée never managed to find common ground with the cab association. The territorial councillor has repeatedly called for precise data on taxi fares, frequency of journeys, distances covered, and so on. To no avail, he has been hammering away for two years. The subject having been entrusted to Francius Matignon, elected member of the Saint-Barth d'Abord group, before being taken in hand by President Lédée, Dimitri Lédée chose to present his own fare grid to councillors. While regretting, once again, the absence of data enabling him to accurately establish appropriate rates, the elected official explained that he had based his calculations on mathematics to revalue the coefficients. I tried to do what I could," he insists. I had two choices this evening: Vote against the proposed grid or make a proposal. "
Amendment rejected
While a number of elected representatives, including Rudi Laplace and Romaric Magras, praised the quality of Dimitri Lédée's work, they noted that his fee schedule had been drawn up without consulting the trade. Faced with these reservations, the elected representative of Action-Équilibre defended his proposal with conviction. He receives the support of his running mate Bettina Cointre, who believes that if the demands of cabs are to be taken into account, the scale presented by Dimitri Lédée should be adopted, as it is both "logical and coherent". Jonas Brin, also a councillor for Action-Équilibre, points out that the scale proposed by his colleague raises the price of some journeys by up to fifteen euros. In other words, the revaluations are sometimes higher than those in the grid put to the vote of the councillors. "We can't impose excessively high fares on cab drivers," quips Maxime Desouches, fourth vice-president, with a broad smile.
Despite the arguments put forward by Dimitri Lédée and several of his running mates, his amendment was rejected by eleven votes to six. Following this, the deliberation presenting the grid devised by President Lédée in consultation with the cab association was adopted. Eleven votes to six.
"A fair and balanced scale
The cab association immediately, or almost immediately, expressed its satisfaction. "This scale was not drawn up 'with wet fingers', but after long hours of discussion and reflection on destinations, traffic jams, the arduousness of the road, etc.," says the association. We think it's fair, balanced and equitable. "Nevertheless, it also made a number of comments following the contradictory exchanges that took place during the territorial council meeting. Notably on the fare increase, announced at 50%. "We're going from 25 to 30 euros and from 40 to 55 euros (on certain journeys, editor's note), for example, so it doesn't represent a 50% increase", explains the association, which contests most of the arguments put forward by Dimitri Lédée at the territorial council meeting.
The cab association insists that the scale adopted on Thursday October 3 "was proposed to all artisan cabs" via their WhatsApp groups. It also recalls its commitment over the past two years through proposals, meetings and other round tables. On the question of "preferential" rates for the island's residents, the association points out that they are applied "by mutual agreement" and stresses: "We are independent businessmen and have the possibility of applying a commercial discount. Local users can rest assured. "
T.F.
