Taxi authority rejects cab company focused on disabled

By Richard N. Velotta

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | 3:43 p.m.

For close to an hour this morning, people with canes, walkers and wheelchairs pleaded with members of the Nevada Taxicab Authority to allow a new company a chance to provide them with taxi service.

Some had horror stories about calling existing companies and waiting for hours for the cab to show up. Others told about missing important doctor’s appointments because the cab company didn’t reach them on time. Some told about getting to their destination as planned – but then having to wait for hours for a cab to get home.

A new company, Handicab LLC, has been waiting in the wings to make transporting the disabled its primary focus of business.

Now, it appears Handicab won’t get the chance.

In a 3-0 vote in a special meeting, the Taxicab Authority voted to grant motions for summary judgment from seven would-be competitors of Handicab that effectively blocks the company from making its case for certification.

Handicab officials haven’t decided yet whether to appeal the decision to the Nevada Transportation Authority.

“Quite frankly, I didn’t think there was any way that they would vote for the motion and that we would get our opportunity to make our case,” said Handicab co-owner Rob Martin. “We’re crushed.”

Before the unanimous vote, board members emphasized that they were deliberating on a legal point and not the emotional testimony offered by people who filled a second-story conference room and forced the Taxicab Authority to set up an overflow seating area.

The legal point: Did Handicab prove that it offered an essential service to the riding public that wasn’t being delivered by competitors?

Handicab’s rivals also emphasized that the company applied for 40 permanent, unrestricted medallions and had no intention of serving only disabled customers. Martin concurred that it would be economically unfeasible to target just the disabled, but said the company’s emphasis would be on that market.

In he past year, the Taxicab Authority has rejected expansion proposals and requests for additional medallions because the ailing economy has reduced demand for more cabs.

Under the certification rules for taxis in Clark County, potential service providers bear the burden of proof to convince the five-member Taxicab Authority that a market is underserved and not being provided by existing companies. Competitors are allowed to intervene in support or opposition to the proposal.

Industry critics say the system is unfair to potential new applicants and that it favors established companies, protecting them from competition.

In Handicab’s case, companies that own Ace Cab, Union Cab, A NLV Cab, Vegas-Western and Virgin Valley Cab filed a motion for summary judgment as did the companies owning Henderson Taxi and Whittlesea Blue Cab.

Representatives from nine other cab companies operating in Clark County as well as two cab driver unions weighed in as interveners in opposition to the Handicab proposal.

In addition to the testimony presented by the contingent of disabled residents, Handicab offered economic reports prepared by two UNLV professors. The company said it was difficult to argue about how much rival taxi companies invested in serving the disabled public because those companies wouldn’t share financial information.

Taxicab Authority board member Carolyn Sparks said Handicab’s efforts should serve as a wake-up call to the rest of the industry that many disabled residents aren’t happy with the quality of taxi service they are getting and that they should consider better communication and marketing efforts to make sure disabled local residents get the service they need.