Are temporary taxi permits worth considering? Curacao issued 29 (see related story) for the current high season.
The argument is that while the number of visitors requires more taxi service during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, this is not the case year-round. To prevent saturating the low-season market, so-called exemptions were given out for a defined period.
One drawback is that such initiatives offer only short-term opportunities rather than the kind of job security that helps build a community. Seasonality of their tourism economies has a big social impact on vacation destinations.
The question is relevant for St. Maarten considering responses up to last week Wednesday to the Public Transportation Confirmation Process 2026 conducted by the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT). Only 168 out of 639 operators had completed such, with the February 27 deadline fast-approaching.
Of these, respectively 125 and 454 were taxis. By comparison, for bus drivers it regarded 36 out of 138.
Judging by these figures, some might say the Dutch side’s taxi market is over-flooded and the present regulation effort could help address that situation. If for whatever reason licences become dormant and/or inactive, not replacing them would automatically limit the amount in circulation.
However, keep in mind that taxi- as well as bus drivers and their families depend on transporting passengers for their livelihood. In any future decision to revoke related permits that aspect must be carefully weighed.
