Taxi | Streetsblog Los Angeles

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 1 Comment

Council Approves Ten Year Contract for Airport Cab Company

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote after no debate, approved a ten year contract for Authorized Taxicab Supervision Inc. (ATS) to continue to oversee the 2,300 taxi cabs that access the airport. The Council’s unanimous approval for such a long-term contract is something of a surprise when you consider a 2007 report by then-Comptroller Laura Chick that blasted ATS’ management, Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA) oversight of the existing contract and the opposition of the Taxi Workers’ Alliance.

The Taxi Worker's Alliance Marches on May Day 2008. Photo: Meekorouse/Flickr

While the mainstream press is focused on the increase in fares that taxi’s will face to access the airport for pick-ups, up to $4 from $2.50, the 2007 report raises many other questions. For the record, the increased fees can be passed on to riders, which has led to such informative headlines as “You’ll Now Pay $4 Just to Step Into a Taxi at LAX, Thanks to the L.A. City Council.”

But to understand the concerns about renewing the contract with ATS for such a long period of time, we first have to understand what ATS is. In response to a chaotic situation with cabs accessing the airport two decades ago, the head of the nine accredited taxi companies in Los Angeles formed ATS and entered into a contract with LAWA to manage taxi access. ATS was permitted to charge taxis to pay a $2.50 entrance fee to leave a waiting lot to access the terminals. ATS only exists to manage this contract with LAWA, without it they don’t exist.

In 2007, Chick’s office released a scathing report of ATS which basically called them out for being either incompetent or corrupt. Charges that the agency broke laws by paying, or bullying, drivers not to report injuries, “excessive” fees and salaries for employees, verbal contracts for large fees with vendors and unapproved subleasing of LAWA property. The report is ugly, and while LAWA and ATS both claim that they’re working on addressing Chick’s concerns, it’s hard not to feel that the Council’s failure to discuss and debate before signing off on another decade of ATS management.

Or, as the Taxi Workers’ Alliance told the Los Angeles Times before the vote: Read more…

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 3 Comments

L.A. City Council Extends Taxi Franchises

by Joe Linton

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to extend the city’s current taxi franchise agreements. Existing city franchises are set to expire December 31st 2010, so today’s vote allows for L.A.’s dysfunctional taxi system to roll along for five more years.

Photo: Joe Linton

The vote was the culmination of more than a year of contentious debate over the future of the city’s taxi system. In 2009, in anticipation of the approaching deadline, the city commissioned a taxi study to guide future decisions. In either haste or impropriety, the city’s awarding of the taxi study contract was tainted by dubious processes, then terminated. Remaining funding was deemed insufficient for the study’s completion. Taxi company interests pressured the council to extend lucrative franchises essentially unchanged. Taxi workers pressed for completion of the city study, expecting results to include steps toward labor and environmental reform.

In June 2010, Councilmembers Tony Cardenas and Paul Krekorian introduced council motion 10-0996 which proposed extending existing taxi franchises for five years, with environmental provisions for conversion to fuel-efficient vehicles. Taxi companies backed Cardenas’ five-year extension, which ends up more likely to be a seven-year extension, via a provision allowing the Board of Taxicab Commissioners to approve two one-year extensions. Taxi workers pressed for an alternative proposal, supported by Mayor Villaraigosa, for a two-year extension during which the aborted taxi study could be completed.

Transportation Committee Terminates LADOT Taxi Study Contract

by Joe Linton

Photo:ShelbyWils/Flickr

This afternoon’s Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee was dominated by the taxi controversy explained in this earlier post.
In brief, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is
overseeing a taxi assessment to set future taxi policy, and LADOT
awarded a contract for that assessment in a manner that bypassed
agreed-upon processes.

There was a great deal of testimony from taxi drivers and their
allies about the lack of transparency in the process, the miserable
working conditions under the current taxi system, the important opportunity
presented by this assessment, and the need to rescind the contract
LADOT had awarded improperly. Taxi franchise owner representatives also
testified. They refuted many taxi worker claims and urged that the
contracted assessment proceed unimpeded.

LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson testified that LADOT had tried
to follow the process. She stated that LADOT had made a verbal request to the
outgoing Transportation Committee Chair then-Council Member Wendy
Greuel. Council Member Greuel didn’t schedule the item during the last
couple weeks of her tenure, before moving on to become City Controller.
GM Robinson then felt that LADOT was losing time and wanted to get work
underway as quickly as possible, hence proceeded to award the contract
to Nelson/Nygaard.

Council Member Bernard Parks expressed sternly that the city was
about to spend $250,000 for an objective study to make progress in
resolving taxi issues, and that if the process of that study
is marred from the outset, then the results of it will be suspect, and
the city will be back at square one. Council Member Paul Koretz
emphasized the need for a transparent and open process. Council Member
Tom LaBonge and committee chair Council Member Bill Rosendahl also urged
transparency as necessary to build public trust.

Taxi Contract Controversy at Transportation Committee Wednesday

by Joe Linton

Photo, by Joe Linton, from the L.A. Taxi Workers Alliance protest at City Hall in August

The agenda for this Wednesday's Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee includes an important hearing on the future of Los Angeles' taxi system.

As is evident in cities throughout the world, taxis can play an important role in providing a healthy balance of transportation options. Taxis are considered a public utitlity, hence are regulated tightly by the city. Taxis' effectiveness is hindered by L.A.'s byzantine system of taxi regulations. Numerous issues in the taxi industry have been raised by studies including UCLA's Driving Poor and the Los Angeles Taxi Workers' Alliance's Sweatshops on Wheels.

In late 2008, the city issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a consultant to review the current taxi system and to make recommendations on how to resolve problems. The review is targeted to be completed so that feedback can be incorporated in to the system before the city revisits existing taxi franchises due to expire in December 2010.

The City Council directed the LADOT to report back with their recommendations for the council to review, but that process went out the window this summer. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation made the determination that, despite the council's specifications, LADOT could select a consultant, bypass the City Council and Taxi Commission, and go straight to Mayor Villaraigosa. In July, LADOT and the Mayor's office awarded the $250,000 taxi consultant contract to Nelson/Nygaard and its team leader Will Rodman. Rodman worked with the city in 2000 to craft the current system that has so many problems.