Rocky pushes to relax rules on taxis

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's administration is pushing for relaxed regulations on the city's taxicab services — a move that at least one critic claims is motivated by the mayor's connections to the city's largest cab company.

Under Anderson's proposal, which will be discussed by the City Council today but likely not acted on for several weeks, the city's heavily regulated cab companies could petition for a rate increase this year instead of waiting until 2005. They could also decrease their service during the summer and increase service in the winter.

Attorney Don Winder, who represents the city's three cab companies — Yellow Cab, Ute Cab and City Cab — said the changes are long overdue and will protect the city's taxi industry, which is facing skyrocketing gasoline and insurance costs.

But Russell Ridge, who has since 2000 unsuccessfully sought a city certificate to run a new cab company, said the proposal would also keep any other cab company from doing any significant business.

Anderson, who drove a Yellow Cab during graduate school, said he has wanted changes in cab regulations for years.