Commissions paid to LV taxicab drivers at issue

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

There was a lot of talk about leprechauns at Tuesday's Nevada Taxicab Authority meeting and it had nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day.

Trip Sheet, a popular monthly magazine circulated among cab drivers, is filled with advertisements adorned with pictures of leprechauns.

At Tuesday's meeting, billed as a workshop to air a wide range of issues concerning the taxi industry, Commissioner Steve Sisolak received a quick primer on the significance of the leprechauns.

The more of them that appear on an ad, the more money cab drivers are tipped when they bring a customer to the business. The only problem is that the Taxicab Authority has regulations prohibiting drivers from taking gratuities from anyone but their employers or their customers.

Bob Flaven, the chief of enforcement for the Taxicab Authority, admitted to commissioners that the practice is so widespread that it's impossible for his staff to enforce the regulation. So, it continues.

"So what do the leprechauns mean?" Sisolak asked.

Craig Harris, associate editor of the magazine and a working cab driver, responded that each leprechaun represents $1.

So, it's easy to determine by looking at the ads that a customer dropped off at the All American SportPark, for example, would earn $2 from the business and a referral to the "Hip-Nosis" show at the Flamingo O'Shea's Casino is worth $10.

Where the issue becomes sticky is when customers are "diverted" -- taken someplace where they initially did not ask to go. Diversions became particularly problematic as competition heated up in the topless and nude dancing industry.

Complaints about diversion became so rampant that the Legislature stepped in last year and approved a bill making it a misdemeanor. Metro was directed to enforce the law, but Taxicab Authority Chairman James Jimmerson said diversion continues, mainly because the law doesn't punish the businesses that tip drivers for bringing them customers.

In fact, the adult cabarets have further insulated themselves by requiring drivers to sign a document swearing that they didn't divert a customer from a competitor. Once the document is signed, the driver gets $10.

But Jimmerson gave a stern warning to cab drivers -- the Taxicab Authority's enforcement division will continue to conduct sting operations to catch drivers that divert customers.

But drivers say they'll fight any effort to crack down on their collection of tips for delivering customers to preferred businesses.

"There's a term for taking somebody in a cab against their will," said Brian Guerin, a spokesman for the Professional Drivers Association. "It's called 'kidnapping.' If somebody wants to arrest me for kidnapping, I'd say go ahead."

Drivers say there is a definitive line between offering a knowledgeable recommendation and diverting a customer and most cabbies never cross it.

"I'll recommend that people not walk in the area between the Stratosphere (hotel-casino) and downtown after dark because it's not safe," said Daryl Poelman, president of the Professional Drivers Association. "I suppose that's a form of diversion because there are businesses in that area, a doughnut shop or something, that will lose business because I'm giving them an opinion relative to their safety."

Commissioner William Bailey said cab drivers all over the world are asked for recommendations on places to eat or visit. Since two-thirds of the Las Vegas population is involved in the service industry, Bailey said, it's not unusual that tips from businesses have evolved into an accepted form of income for cab drivers.

Commissioners concurred that they would review the diversion issue at future meetings.

Another issue that will get further review are the cab companies' certificated areas of service and how they affect the industry's ability to serve Southern Nevada residents. The matter came up in the Taxicab Authority's February meeting when the Citizens Committee for Better Transportation said cab drivers "cherry pick" the Strip and leave local neighborhoods underserved.

Agency Administrator Bob Anselmo explained the service areas assigned to the 13 cab companies serving Clark County. Of the 13, only two are certified to make runs anywhere in the county. The rest have geographical restrictions.

The problem with some of the restrictions is that they're tied to city boundaries, which have changed drastically over the past two decades with every land annexation. Others are linked to landmarks that were significant years ago but are no longer relevant.

For example, the Western Cab Co. has a service area that is a 10-mile radius from a Post Office formerly at 1001 Keno Lane, near the Circus Circus hotel-casino. The Post Office closed years ago, but the service area remains. Today, the 10-mile radius ends just shy of the location of the Regent Las Vegas hotel-casino (formerly called the Resort at Summerlin).

That means Western Cab drivers can drop customers off at the hotel, but can't pick anyone up there. If they do, drivers risk a fine of between $25 and $1,000, depending on the number of citations they've received.

Anselmo said some cab companies can't make runs into Henderson. That means that if a Henderson-bound airline passenger gets in the wrong cab at McCarran International Airport where a luck-of-the-draw line serves arriving passengers, the driver can't take him into that city.

Sisolak was amazed. "How do tourists coming to town know that?" he asked. "And how are drivers supposed to know where their customers are going until after they get in the car?"

He was also amazed that the agency's enforcement division could keep up with the changing service areas of the 13 different companies.

Some of the cab company owners suggested establishing a countywide service area for all companies or possibly a 35-mile radius from the center of the city. It was noted that some cab companies serve within a 32-mile radius now that allows them to pick up customers in Overton -- but not Primm.

The 35-mile radius would establish a service area centered in Las Vegas and not affect operations in Laughlin and Mesquite, they said. And, by allowing cabs greater access to all the urban areas in the city, cab drivers would be more inclined to pay attention to the needs of citizens and not spend so much time along the Strip, a criticism of the Citizens Committee for Better Transportation.

But Jimmerson said establishing a set service area for most of the companies would not take into account some special competitive circumstances in certain areas.

He said instead, individual cab companies could apply for expansions of their respective areas and those requests would go through the normal process of review by regulators and intervenors.

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