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Bill lures cabbies to Capitol for round 2

This year's plan would ease path for new taxi firms

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 9, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Abdi Bundi, president of Pro Taxi, a union representing independent drivers, talks with a customer Friday in Denver. "We will come (to the Capitol) with close to 500 drivers because they need to know there's a problem," he said.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Abdi Bundi, president of Pro Taxi, a union representing independent drivers, talks with a customer Friday in Denver. "We will come (to the Capitol) with close to 500 drivers because they need to know there's a problem," he said.

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Last year's Capitol grudge match between Denver's only three taxi companies and hundreds of the independent drivers who pay to operate under their labels is roaring back for another round.

But while last year's fight centered on a bill that would have deregulated the industry, debate this time will center on more subtle legislation making it easier for new cab firms to open for business.

House Bill 1227, co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, and Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, would institute about a dozen recommendations from the Public Utilities Commission. Cabbies are intensely interested in the provision that would eliminate a requirement that new companies prove there is a public demand for more service before they can begin operating.

The bill would shift the burden of proof onto the shoulders of existing cab companies. That means Denver's "big three" firms - Metro Taxi, Yellow Cab and Freedom Cab, which traditionally have fought more competition - would have to pay for studies to prove the market doesn't need more companies.

"We will come (to the Capitol) with close to 500 drivers because they need to know there's a problem," said Abdi Buni, president of Pro Taxi, a union representing 550 independent drivers. "Today's rules profit cab companies, not consumers. This bill will protect consumers."

To the contrary, the bill would amount to deregulating the industry - a move that has resulted in poorer service, higher fares and less income for drivers in other cities, argues Brad Whittle, president of Denver's Yellow Cab.

The bill is also premature, Whittle said, since two studies commissioned by lawmakers last year to assess the Denver taxi market have not been completed.

A bill last year by Rep. Jerry Frangas, D-Denver, that would have deregulated the industry and allowed unlimited operators, was ultimately gutted and replaced by legislation calling for the studies.

The Denver Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the PUC plan to present their studies later this session.

The bureau study is being funded by the big three cab companies, causing drivers to say the findings will be biased. But Bill Mitchell, the bureau's director of government and community affairs, said the bureau is acting as a bias filter by overseeing the study and having the nation's preeminent expert conduct it.

Ray Mundy, director of transportation studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, is in charge.

Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver, who sits on the bureau's board of directors and also on the House transportation committee, has urged fellow lawmakers to wait for the results of the study before making the PUC recommendation law.

"How can you make a recommendation when you haven't seen the report?" she asked. "I'm an ex-New Yorker, and I know about cabs. They can't be deregulated.

"Can you imagine what this place will look like if the cabs are deregulated?" she added. "Thousands of cabs, and nobody will make any money."

Borodkin toured the big three cab company headquarters in the off-session and said she came away believing they are equipped to handle Denver's market and are making strides in improving service to disabled people.

Disabled customers say service is abysmal, in part because cab companies, which are guaranteed income from leases and other fees paid by independent-contractor drivers, have no financial incentive to serve the disabled, elderly and other low-paying, short-trip passengers.

Buni says this year's bill is a far cry from out-and-out deregulation. Rather, he said, it's a chance to level the playing field, welcoming a few companies to a market that hasn't allowed a new taxi firm since 1995.

Lawmakers on the House transportation committee voiced their initial support last month for including the PUC recommendation in the bill.

The bill's first formal hearing is expected to happen sometime this month, though it has not been scheduled.

When the time comes, Buni said as many as 500 cabbies plan to pick up the debate that started last year.

"Oh, I can hardly wait," Borodkin deadpanned. "See, it becomes a circus and nothing gets done. What's needed is for everyone to come to the table quietly and discuss this issue calmly."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059

About the bill

House Bill 1227 would carry out about a dozen recommendations from the state's Public Utilities Commission. In addition to the taxi cab issue, the bill would:

* Extend the PUC's existence for 11 years

* Give the PUC authority to fine utilities

* Authorize the PUC to take input from other state agencies in rule-making proceedings

* Allow the PUC's office of consumer counsel to represent the social and environmental interests - in addition to economic interests - of residential, agricultural and small business consumers of utility service

Comments

  • February 9, 2008

    2:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    gwats writes:

    We have three of worst Cab companies on the Planet operating in Denver metro right now.
    Add one more company of smelly, arrogant, dishonest, shady, self-serving immigrant hacks to
    terrorize the Streets of Denver and you WILL have total anarchy! These people think we owe them a living. We owe them squat. Boycott every one of them . Use RTD!

  • February 9, 2008

    9:19 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    blacksho89 writes:

    ALICE BORODKIN:
    Welcome to Denver! We don't give a damn HOW you did it "back home".

  • February 9, 2008

    6:09 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    aeb1barfo writes:

    Interesting that this issue surfaces just before the DNC...

    Our cabbies will be our ambassadors to the rest of the country.

    And should show that we are not just a cowtown anymore..

    Do we really want what we have ( three companies with no incentives to change ) or better service?

  • February 9, 2008

    8:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    rwmorrisonjr writes:

    Alice, if the NYC cabs are so great, why don't you go back there and ride in them so you'll quit trying to impose your "that's how we did it in NYC" attitude on the rest of us? There's a reason (one of 12 million) that we chose to live in DENVER, not NYC.

  • February 10, 2008

    10:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Maha writes:

    The cab service in Denver is beyond weak, it's difficult to find a cab in situations where they should be plentiful, further competition is needed.

  • February 10, 2008

    12:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    anya writes:

    We desperately need real competition among the taxi companies in Denver. They are over-regulated, all competition is blocked by the government, and we are getting exactly what we deserve. Taxi service in Denver is truly terrible. Why on earth is government protecting the status quo?

  • February 14, 2008

    3:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Marc writes:

    Borodkin-Being from New York does not make you an authority of any kind in regards to the Taxi Business. The above article mentions the nations preeminent expert should decide. I am assuming they mean the transportation departments "Schaller". Nothing against Schaller, mind you, but one of the biggest problems in this industry as well as several others is that the people making the policies and running the cab companies have ZERO experience operating a taxi. Furthermore, maybe the family that got mowed down by that drunk driver on 15/Arapahoe wouldn't have if the streets were filled with lots of "options"(taxi cabs,public transportation)

  • February 14, 2008

    3:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Marc writes:

    Borodkin-Also, is that table you speak of the one where super rich guys slide you lots of money under it?
    Monopolies simply would not exist if it weren't for government regulations and policies that do the complete opposite of what they claim. Prove to me that you're policies work. They never have.Forgive me for sounding pragmatic, but, it's a chaotic circus NOW and has been for a long time. If it weren't for those quiet little behind the scenes deals you want to take place, there would be no problems.
    And----CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE!-Please stop working for the best interests of the "priveleged" few. Maybe you should have a little "R" next to your name instead of "D".

  • February 14, 2008

    4:14 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Marc writes:

    To gwats comment,
    We don't have three cab companies in Denver. We have three really big cash registers that would not exist if it weren't for your "First world" government policy. One of those smelly companies you talk about owns and runs a good portion of RTD. Drivers do not work for cab companies. Cab companies work for them.