It’s not uncommon to take an Island taxicab from one place to another and pay one fare, and on the way back pay something different.

“One day you might pay 10, the next day 15, and it’s not posted anywhere,” said Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake, a member of a new regional taxi committee.

The group was formed by the All-Island selectmen’s association, an unofficial body that meets quarterly to discuss regional issues; it is charged with exploring ways to bring uniformity to the taxicab landscape.

There are 19 taxi companies on the Island, each licensed by one of five towns. (Chilmark has no cab companies.)

Each town has its own rules for cabs, which vary widely, and yet each cab travels Islandwide, picking up fares in each town. While cabs are prohibited from picking up a spontaneous fare in a town other than their own, they can answer a call from anywhere.

Oak Bluffs selectman Walter Vail is spearheading this latest push for taxi reform. At a recent meeting of the committee, he identified three ways to promote consistency: a universal rate structure, uniform regulations for all towns and taxi meters.

Mr. Vail ran these ideas by the committee.

While they were amenable to efforts that would regionalize the regulations and institute a uniform rate structure, some balked at the suggestion of meters.

“My thought is that whoever thinks it’s a good idea has never had a taxi company,” said Christopher Dacunto, who owns three cab companies in Oak Bluffs: Admiral, Harbor and Tisbury taxi.

He said each meter would cost him $500 to $1,000, a considerable cost for all 21 of his vehicles.

He also wondered how meters would be utilized by Vineyard cabs, which are mostly large vans and carry multiple parties in one trip.

“We are talking four or five fares,” Mr. Dacunto said. He wondered how the taxi driver would charge each party according to his or her destination.

“Before we even talk about it we will have to find out how it works,” he said.

Your Taxi owner Diane Habekost said she could buy a nice new van with the money she’d have to spend on meters for her cabs. She added that the meter would eliminate the taxi driver’s ability to charge less than the usual fee.

“I think you are opening up more problems than solving problems,” she said.

As a part of an effort to reform taxi operations, town officials in Nantucket decided to require taxi meters in the spring of 2013, but later removed that mandate from taxi regulations, according to a town official.

Mr. Blake said he would be in touch with the police chief on that island for an update.

“Tourists have a choice on where to go,” Mr. Vail said. “If Nantucket does things in a way they can understand better or appreciate better, they are going to go to Nantucket.”

The taxi discussion began at the healthy aging task force, Mr. Vail said, where concerns were raised about the obscure regulations governing cabs.

“The elderly don’t know what the rules are,” he said.

Ms. Habekost suggested a website where the public could find out which cab served which town, and what they charge.

“What upsets me is that you are telling us the answers to the problems instead of telling us the problems and letting us solve it,” Ms. Habekost said.

This is not the first time the all-Island selectmen have attempted to standardize the taxi industry.

In 1987, the association endorsed a plan to set Islandwide cab rates, and in 1979, they proposed reciprocal taxi licensing among the six towns. Neither effort was successful.

Mr. Vail said he wanted to minimize confusion for people getting off the boat. He said it would be good if all cabs shared a similar appearance.

“The Island is a tourist destination, and it needs to play the part,” he said.

But Mr. Dacunto was less optimistic on this point.

“I don’t know how you are going to get a uniformity of cabs,” he said. “It’s a resort area and I understand what you are saying, but Martha’s Vineyard is a different place and a lot of things are done differently here.”

An earlier version of this story reported that Nantucket requires meters in taxis; a proposal to require meters was approved in spring 2013 but later rescinded.