Rebound spells acrimony for Taxicab Authority board

By Richard N. Velotta

Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 | 3 a.m.

“Wanted: Nevada Taxicab Authority administrator. Must take direction from an inexperienced board of directors just learning the job. Must be willing to take criticism from 16 taxi company executives, two unions and George Knapp. Hours: Long (some say ‘never-ending’). Compensation: Little (it’s a thankless job). Inquire with the Nevada Taxicab Authority.”

No, that wasn’t the job posting that went out recently when the Taxicab Authority decided to broaden the applicant field for an administrator to replace Gordon Walker, who ran — and ran fast — to get out after being on the job for just shy of three years. But it could have been.

Walker managed to win the respect of most cab company owners and cabdrivers, tough to do in a job overseeing a system with flaws on many levels.

Last month, the board had 16 applicants, some who have been with the authority for years and know the good, bad and ugly of the industry. But the board decided to post the job statewide to get more candidates.

The new administrator will begin as the economy is improving and the number people who use cabs is increasing.

Although that’s great news for the city and the taxi industry, it also marks the return of acrimony between cab company owners and taxi drivers.

When the tourism economy tanked and fewer people were coming to Las Vegas for vacations and conventions, the authority re-examined its process of allocating additional cabs for big events.

When sponsoring organizations and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority began forecasting fewer numbers to attend events, the Taxicab Authority backed off on allocating more cabs on the streets during those big events.

In theory, the more cabs there are on the streets, the less money an individual cabdriver makes.

The Taxicab Authority’s mission is to provide good service. Flooding the streets with extra cabs isn’t the solution because it just adds congestion and results in periods when too many vehicles are on the street burning fuel and wasting drivers’ time.

During the recession, the job of considering allocating extra cabs was easy — there were enough cabs on the street to accommodate the existing volume and adding vehicles wasn’t necessary.

But now, it’s a little more complicated. The Taxicab Authority has to strike just the right balance to serve the public without putting too many cabs on the road.

The process for cab allocations is cumbersome. The Taxicab Authority staff looks at the history of a given event and measures whether additional people coming to town are generally cab users or limousine users. They consult with event producers and the LVCVA and ask cab company owners and cabdriver unions to present their views.

At Taxicab Authority meetings, the staff explains its justification for cab allocation. Then, each cab company owner and the unions are invited to say what they think the allocation should be.

Sometimes, the allocation process gets a little complicated. For example, in March, a convention called ConExpo-Con/Agg will be in town. It’s a huge construction industry event that appears in Las Vegas once every three years. The last time it was in town was in 2008, just as the construction industry was hitting the economic skids, so there’s little recent history to go on and a lot can change in three years.

The LVCVA anticipates 140,000 people will attend. If that isn’t enough guesswork, the convention overlaps a weekend during the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament, another time of the year when there are more people than usual in town frequenting casino sports books.

When the Taxicab Authority staff makes a recommendation, it gives cab companies the option of operating extra cabs during a 12-hour window within a limited time frame. In order to cover periods early in the day when a convention opens and late, when the show closes and participants enjoy the night life, there can be some overlapping shifts. For example, the recommendation could enable companies to add five cabs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and five for any 12-hour period from noon to 2 a.m. Hypothetically, a company could run 10 extra cabs in some of those hours.

Although some companies are small and don’t have that many extra cabs to add, others will put the maximum number on the street. Since there are 16 companies and every company gets the same allocation, it’s possible to have 160 extra cabs operating at one time.

When its analysis is complete, the staff recommends numbers. Company owners generally argue for a higher number. Unions argue for a lower number. The five-member board is left to sort out what to do.

When Walker was administrator, he brought experience and wisdom to the process. Today, an acting administrator is helping out, but hasn’t offered many strong opinions about the merits of the staff recommendation.

Meanwhile, there’s been attrition on the board. Last week, the most experienced member, Robert Forbuss, resigned for health reasons. Josh Miller and John Marushok came on board in mid-2009. Joe Hardy and Chairwoman Ileana Drobkin joined in November. None of those four has experienced the allocation process in good economic times.

Although cab allocations are center stage in most Taxicab Authority meetings, more crucial issues await resolution.

One is the nagging issue of long-hauling, the illegal practice of taking a passenger a longer route than necessary without permission. The most notorious long-haul route is through McCarran International Airport’s tunnel to get to the Strip — a route officials say was built for the specific purpose of getting traffic out of the airport quickly.

There are numerous problems with existing policies and procedures. If a cabdriver gets permission to take a route that’s longer but could be faster because of traffic, it’s perfectly legal. But there are always questions about how the driver inquires and whether it’s fully explained that the ride is going to cost more than it should.

Recognizing that the board is inexperienced, an executive of Yellow-Checker-Star, a three-company cab conglomerate that is the largest company in Las Vegas, sent members a memorandum outlining the long-haul issue and how it is taking pre-emptive measures to discipline drivers caught long-hauling.

The authority conducted a long-hauling workshop in July. Companies and board members discussed an in-house progressive disciplinary plan that includes $500 fines for drivers and termination after a third offense. Progressive discipline is incorporated in union contracts between drivers and their companies.

Most drivers don’t defend long-hauling, but say it happens because they are under pressure to deliver a minimum amount of revenue per shift and that a low book can result in termination.

Yellow-Checker acknowledges that long-hauling doesn’t happen that often — based on Taxicab Authority statistics, 836 long-haul complaints were lodged and 208 citations issued out of 23.5 million trips in 2009, a 0.0000356 percentage. But the companies say one long-haul complaint is too many and the problem is the unreported incidences and the black eye the industry gets when it’s publicized.

Hopefully, a new administrator will take the issue by the horns and recommend a policy the board can get behind. Maybe cab companies should be fined as well as drivers so there’s motivation for the companies to be better enforcers.

It would be a small step toward making the system better.

New Delta policy

Delta Air Lines’ passenger loyalty program, SkyMiles, has a new policy — accumulated mileage will no longer expire.

Under the plan, passengers accumulate points based on miles flown. In the past, points would expire if they weren’t used in two years.

Delta has an average 43 flights a day in and out of Las Vegas to hub cities Atlanta; Cincinnati; Detroit; Minneapolis; New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport; Memphis, Tenn.; and Salt Lake City as well as Los Angeles International and Southern California’s Orange County airport.

More Washington lift?

US Airways is working with lawmakers on legislation that would amend existing perimeter restrictions at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport that could result in additional flights between that airport and McCarran.

If approved, US Airways has indicated it would add a second daily flight between Washington National and Las Vegas.