Regina officials are mulling further regulation of the city's taxi industry in a move they say might improve overall service.

While the city is currently in charge of setting taxi rates and regulating the number of cabs allowed on the streets, it doesn't have any say over safety issues, cleanliness or driver qualifications.

Because of this, the overall level of service — for tourists and residents alike — suffers, said Ward 4 Coun. Michael Fourgere.

"It's all about servicing the public, those who come into Regina, the first point of contact," Fourgere said Monday. "The first impression of Regina at the airport is your taxi. So, we want to make sure we have the best taxi industry we can possibly have."

A consultant's report released by the city Monday makes a number of recommendations, including:

• Adopting GPS technology in virtually all cabs.
• Requiring all taxis to be equipped to handle credit card payments.
• Requiring virtually all taxi vehicle models on the road to be no more than six years old by 2013.
• Adopting standards of personal appearance and dress for drivers.
• Installing surveillance cameras to record images of every person who gets into or exits a taxi.
• Creating a computerized dispatch system.

The report also calls for the creation of a quasi-judicial taxicab board to regulate all facets of the industry.

The report is blunt in what the overall effect of the changes will be on the cost of taking a cab in Regina.

"Fees for taxi licences, driver permits and enforcement should be increased to cover all costs associated with the establishment of the Regina Taxicab Board and additional personnel," the report states.

The 163-page report was written based in part on interviews with the city's taxi companies, drivers and regular users of cabs. As well, a series of reports by "secret shoppers" (undercover customers) document and evaluate the level of service offered by cab companies in the city.

While public consultation on potential changes to the industry begins next week and will continue for months, the operations manager of Regina's largest taxi company said Monday she is already worried about the costs associated with increased regulation.

"Regulation creates more bureaucracy, and someone has to pay for that. So, it is going to be the taxi industry, the taxpayer or the taxi-riding public — or a combination of all three," Sandy Archibald said.

"That's what bureaucracy creates … expenses, unfortunately."