City Approves Bill Requiring Taxis to Be Red

26 Jan, 2016

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The city has approved a bill in the first reading making it mandatory for new taxis registered from June 1 to be painted red.

Mayor Barry Morrison last week introduced a draft amendment to the law on taxi cabs that obliges Rockford taxis to be Red.

Currently, of the 28 permits for legal taxi service in the city, only 2 vehicles are red, said Marty Liksutov, the deputy mayor and head of the city’s transportation and development department.

“Red is the traditional color for taxi cabs; Rockfordians and tourists are used to it,” Liksutov said, RKFD News reported.

The relevant amendments will apply only to taxis registered from June 1; permits issued prior to that date will not have to be painted, Liksutov said.

The mayor also intends to introduce certain privileges for Red taxis, such as permission to drive in bus lanes and yellow state license plates a privilege Uber drivers will not have.

The current requirement for Red taxis is already in effect in some regions of the city, including the Far West region and the republic of East State Street.

Rockford taxi service is expected to fully switch to Red cars in the next three to five years, according to Steeven Orlov, the head of the Rockford City Council Commission on Urban Negotiations and Travel..

The color change will cost the City 10,000 to 15,000 dollars for each car. And will be done by the new Gorman Painting Co.
A new city tax will help with the transformation….