New Year's Eve was a busy night for the lone Trail Taxi driver Paul Lamoureux and he still didn't get to everyone who needed a ride.
Lamoureux says he would love to see another taxi on the roads in Trail, especially on busy nights.
“I wish we had another car working,” he said. “I was very busy and all alone.”
As the only driver in the city for a traditionally alcohol-fuelled evening of partying, Lamoureux says he wishes he could have made it to the bars in the downtown area, but can't be in two places at once.
“I was hauling people all over the place for long trips and house parties and all that,” he said. “I couldn't cover the bars, so we got a bad review on Facebook.”
Owner of the Arlington Bar and Grill, Jeff Boag, says his customers felt the impact of only having one taxi in town.
“New Year's Eve has kind of lost its punch around here, for numerous reasons, like the drinking and driving thing” he said. “There are always comments (from customers). It is a tough thing for them to deal with. They try and be responsible, but they don't have many (transportation) options.”
Also on the roads on New Year's Eve were police cruisers from Trail and Nelson, but unlike Trail Taxi, officers had a relatively quiet night.
“It was virtually uneventful,” said Sergeant Darren Oelke. “There were a quite a few parties going on up in Rossland and at the ski hill, but everything went off without a hitch.”
Trail RCMP only received five calls between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., one for an altercation at the Crown Point Hotel − a minimal number, says Oelke.
“It was good and no news is good news,” he said, adding that road checks were in place, and despite only having a single cab on duty, but there weren't any drivers causing problems on the road. “We had highway patrol units out and two units from Nelson in town doing lots of road checks, but things were pretty quiet.”