Radio-Canada is reporting that a Montreal woman was stopped by agents from the Bureau de Taxi de Montreal who fined her for illegally transporting people.
Annie Girard regularly makes trip to Champlain, New York. Each time she goes, she invites people with her to split the cost. She’ll often announce her plans on a classified site and the interested parties accompany her.
Last year she was with two other people who had agreed to give her $20 each to accompany her to New York when she was stopped by the BTM which overseas taxis in Montreal. They fined her $500 and towed her vehicle.
Quebec’s transport minister says not only is carpooling legal, it’s encouraged! Carpooling is described under article 36 of the Lois sur les transports:
-The driver determines the destination
-The cost is split between all parties including the driver.
In Annie’s case the BTM used a CAA calculator to determine that her passenger should have only given her $10.50 so it was an infraction.
The problem is that the government itself calculates route costs for their vehicles at 53 cents per km which equals $26.50 per person for Annie’s trip. Covoiturage.ca estimates the per person cost at $23.50.
She plans to contest and is awaiting her court date.
MontrealRacing.com discussed the BTM in a thread from 2009 if you want to read more about them: http://www.montrealracing.com/forums/showthread.php?628081-Taxi-police-spotted-pic
Discuss this article here: http://www.montrealracing.com/forums/showthread.php?882446-Incredible-Woman-Gets-500-Ticket-for-Carpooling