Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.
The number of monthly taxicab trips in Clark County fell in August compared with a year ago, the first monthly decline since March 2003.
Industry watchers have numerous theories on why.
The county's 16 taxi companies logged 2.02 million rides last month, compared with 2.06 million rides in August 2003, a 1.9 percent decline.
While most experts concur the decrease was minimal, the fact that it fell was noteworthy because the year-over-year comparison for the past 12 months has been filled with double-digit increases and the tourism industry has been burgeoning in nearly every category.
Here's what some observers close to the industry -- owners, drivers and regulators -- say is behind the decline:
Blown shifts are most worrisome to the Nevada Taxicab Authority on cabs that are assigned to a specific geographic area -- those that pick up and deliver local residents for appointments and errands. The Taxicab Authority said in May, June and July, more than half the geographically restricted cab calls were considered blown shifts.
Several companies are trying new driver recruitment efforts, including advertisements on the vehicles and management recruitment trips to other cities. The Yellow, Checker and Star companies, which operate under one corporate umbrella, have a bounty program in place -- drivers who recruit a new hire get $125 and if the new recruit stays with the company for three months, they get $125 more.
But this year, MAGIC was under one roof, at the Convention Center. That decreased the number of opportunities for cab rides.
Kelly Kuzik, a management specialist with the Taxicab Authority, said while trips for August were down slightly, the overall outlook for the industry in 2004 has been good.
"When you're looking at steady growth for the entire year, 1.9 percent is statistically irrelevant," said Kuzik, who noted that for the year, cab ridership is up 7.65 percent over 2003.
He noted that when the Taxicab Authority added medallions earlier this year, it was expected that the number of trips per medallion and revenue per medallion would fall -- the number of trips was being shared by a greater number of cabs.
The Taxicab Authority earlier this year authorized additional medallions for each company, putting about 175 additional vehicles on the road last month over August 2003. Last month, there were 1,601 medallions authorized in Clark County; a year ago, there were 1,426.
Harris said the blown-shift rate would probably fall as soon as the cab companies are able to hire enough drivers.
"We can't get enough drivers to drive the cabs that we have," he said.
Because the awarding of medallions to the companies resulted in the responsibility of each company to have a vehicle on the road for that medallion, companies have been asking drivers to come in on days off to pull extra shifts.
"Days off are hard to come by and drivers are getting called to come in on days off to meet the requirements of the additional medallions," Harris said. "The industry has reached a level of saturation."
Drivers say they aren't getting rich driving cabs, even though the average revenue per trip has climbed 4.3 percent. The Taxicab Authority said the average revenue per trip climbed from $9.95 in August 2003 to $10.38 last month. But that's mitigated by a drop in trips per shift, which has fallen 6.65 percent, from 23.5 in August 2003 to 21.9 last month.
Average revenue per shift is off 2.6 percent, from $233.39 in August 2003 to $227.28 last month.
Harris said the recruitment of new drivers has been hurt by some of the recent high-profile assaults and robberies of cab drivers in Clark County. The Taxicab Authority plans a meeting later this month to bring the matter of making cabs safer back to the table.
Several proposals, including some involving the placement of cameras in taxicabs, will be considered in the debate.
archive
