Reuters – U.S. taxi and limousine services are seeing an increase in business from customers seeking to enter Canada by land to avoid a restriction on international travel that applies only to air traffic.
Whereas both Canadian land and air travelers are required to take a test within three days of departure, and again on arrival, only those flying to Canada should spend as much as three days of the nation’s 14-day required quarantine interval in a hotel.
That has led to a surge of calls for taxi and limousine services from Canadians who fly through U.S. airports in states like New York and then cross over the land border.
“They came from six within the morning to 12 at night,” John Arnet, general manager of 716 Limousine in Buffalo, N.Y. stated. “We’ve had so many requests for border crossings that we’re turning them down.”
The company now does more business driving Canadians to their homes in Ontario than with U.S. clients.
A taxi trip across the border can cost around $200 or $250 compared with a three-day hotel stay of more than C$1,200 ($961), Canadian travel insurance broker Martin Firestone stated.
With the Canada-U.S. land border mostly closed for more than a yr due to the pandemic, and overall tourism down, the recent surge in business has come as a relief to some struggling taxi operators.
Nick Boccio, general manager of Buffalo Limousines, stated the Canadian clientele has helped the company bring back chauffeurs.
On Friday, Boccio stated the company gave 9 different rides to Canadian passengers on just one flight from Florida.
Canada has imposed tough restrictions since the beginning of the pandemic, including a ban on most foreigners from entering the nation. Canadians can fly overseas and return either by land or air.
However concerns are mounting due to a surge in virus variants, with them once temporary hotel quarantine now mandatory for air travelers through late May, and a ban launched this week on direct flights from India and Pakistan.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) data for Feb. 22 through March 25, 1.5% of air passengers to the nation tested positive for the virus on arrival compared with 0.3% of land travelers.
The boom for U.S. taxis could quickly be muted as premiers from Canada’s two most populous provinces, Quebec and Ontario, have urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take further action on the land border.
Tighter requirements might assist, such as a mandatory hotel stay for those entering Canada at certain land crossings, stated Customs and Immigration Union president Jean-Pierre Fortin, but would be logistically difficult given the vast border.
