Cabbies in slowdown during NAB

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 10:30 a.m.

Cabbies today planned a lunch time boycott of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the National Association of Broadcasters has been meeting, to protest too many taxis on the street.

Al Bola, president of the Las Vegas Taxi Drivers Association, said this morning that all drivers were urged to stay away from the NAB Convention from noon-1 p.m. today on the second day of a city-wide slowdown.

He said he expected about 600 of the 1,200 drivers on the street at the time to participate in the demonstration.

'This is going to be an all-week thing," Bola said. "It's going to keep rolling every day and get stronger as the week goes on."

More than 90,000 television and radio broadcasters are in town through Thursday.

Bola said drivers are upset that the state Taxicab Authority, which regulates the industry, has been slow to consider removing about 91 extra cabs allocated last year.

The additional cabs, Bola said, hurt the drivers in their pocketbooks.

Bob Flaven, the Taxicab authority's chief investigator, said this morning he didn't expect too many drivers to stay away from the convention center.

"This is a week where there's an opportunity for them to make a lot of money," he said. "I can't see the drivers going out there not to make money."

Flaven said Monday's lunch time boycott for the most part did not disrupt cab service.

But he acknowledged that his agency received telephone calls from the Golden Nugget and New York-New York hotel-casinos asking for more cabs during lunch.

Bola said the Stardust, Tropicana and Excalibur hotel-casinos also called him inquiring about the boycott.

"This thing should have been resolved back in February," Bola said.

Bola said his association, which represents about 1,500 of the 3,800 cabbies in Las Vegas, has provided evidence to the Taxicab Authority that shows the cabs aren't needed on the street.

The issue of removing the 91 permanent cabs, Bola said, was supposed to have been resolved at the upcoming April 21 Taxicab Authority board meeting. But it has been put off until May.