Block Island taxi operators, visitors and commission debate prebooking and aggregated tour groups

The New Shoreham Commission for Motor Vehicles for Hire heard a sustained discussion about permitting prebooked, aggregated tour groups from taxi operators and visitor-services representatives during its meeting on Wednesday.

The conversation centered on whether taxi operators should be allowed to combine separately booked customers into the same tour (what participants called "aggregating" multiple parties) and on a proposal to permit that practice only as a trial during the busiest months. Christine, a local taxi operator who spoke at length, urged the commission to modernize language in the town regulations to allow prebooking and grouped tours in July and August as a one-season trial, saying it would reduce congestion and make tours more convenient for visitors. "People want to book a tour online," Christine said. "They don't want to pay for two people a $100 when they could fill up a group tour."

Commission members and other speakers raised operational and fairness concerns. Commissioners noted longstanding local practice that generally treated a tour as a single taxi job and that the existing rules had been interpreted to prevent drivers from combining tour groups and offering discounted group pricing. One commissioner summarized the history: when the question arose earlier in the season, the town lawyer told the commission there was nothing in the regulations explicitly forbidding aggregation, but the commission had continued the past practice of not allowing multiple tour groups to be combined. That left operators and the commission seeking clearer regulatory language.

Anne Salinas, identifying herself as a visitor-center and Chamber of Commerce consultant, told the commission the visitor center fields frequent questions about whether tours can be booked in advance and that, in her experience, potential customers often abandon the idea when they face the possibility of paying for a single-person tour. "There is definitely a demand for this," Salinas said, adding the visitor center routinely receives advance calls about available island tours. She said allowing some prebooked group options in peak months would help meet unmet demand without materially harming other operators.

Speakers debated practical safeguards if aggregation were permitted. Suggestions included limiting aggregated/grouped tours to prebooked reservations (to avoid ad-hoc walk-up combinations at taxi stands), restricting any special aggregation allowance to July and August on a trial basis, and exploring whether existing bus or charter licenses could be used by operators who want to run larger scheduled tours. Commissioners acknowledged they would need to consult the town lawyer about whether regulation changes or an ordinance amendment would be required.

No formal motion to change regulations was made or voted on at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to consult the town attorney and return with options. Several commissioners emphasized that a clear, short-term pilot and published guidance for consumers (for example, how prebooking will work and whether drivers must publish a posted price list) would be necessary before any rule change.

The commission asked staff to follow up with the attorney and report back; several commissioners signaled willingness to consider a limited seasonal trial if legal and procedural questions can be resolved.