Board OKs cameras in taxicabs

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

The county's 16 taxi companies will be required to install cameras in nearly 2,500 cabs by April 1 under a regulation approved Tuesday by the Nevada Taxicab Authority.

Authority board members, spurred by the death of a cabdriver who was burned to death in a botched robbery attempt in August, unanimously approved the regulation.

"It's time to put this matter to bed," said authority board chairman Richard Land before the final vote was taken. "It's not a cure-all for eliminating all the ills of the industry, but it's an important step."

The regulation approved by the board requires that a camera lens mounted in a cab capture the image of the driver and all passengers in the vehicle, have an infrared system that can record images day or night and that the images be stored in a system that can be downloaded for law enforcement authorities.

The regulation now must go to the state's Legislative Counsel Bureau for approval of a handful of minor changes.

The changes being sent involve the number of images per minute cameras must capture, how and when on each trip the system is required to be activated and who would have the authority to download the images.

While most taxi drivers and cab company owners attending the meeting hailed the board's action as a victory for the safety of drivers, debate on the issue suggested that privacy concerns -- both for passengers and drivers -- could become a future issue.

The board's legal adviser said the industry should be protected with a clause in the regulation that requires a sign be mounted in all cabs warning that all occupants may be photographed and recorded.

Also at issue is the cost. Cab company owners said cameras and computerized data storage systems range in price from $700 to $1,300 per unit, meaning the cost of equipping every cab may cost as much as $3.2 million. Cab companies will be required to file for rate increases, probably early next year, to cover those costs. Las Vegas cab fares already are among the top 10 most expensive in the country.

In another matter, the Taxicab Authority approved an increase in the cost of a cab ride by 20 cents a trip as a fuel surcharge to cover the rising price of gasoline.

The increase takes effect Nov. 9. Cab customers will now pay $3.20 on the "drop" -- the base charge all customers pay -- up from $3, and will continue to pay $1.80 a mile.

It was the third fuel surcharge approved by the Taxicab Authority. The board approved an increase in 1991 and another last year. The surcharge approved last year was incorporated into a permanent rate increase earlier this year.