Cabbies protest S.L. plan to cut drivers

SALT LAKE CITY — Wearing a yellow shirt that matched his taxi parked outside the Salt Lake City-County Building, driver Charles Free threw his hands in the air and asked: "What are you trying to do to me?"

Cab drivers and other ground-transportation providers pleaded with the City Council for about 90 minutes Tuesday night not to move forward with proposals to redefine how they're allowed to do business in the capital city.

The proposed changes would reduce the number of taxis and cab companies operating in the city and require the vehicles to be newer and better equipped to serve disabled riders.

The goal, city leaders say, is to provide city residents with "reliable, affordable and consumer-friendly ground transportation," as well to "enhance the opportunity for ground transportation industry workers in Salt Lake City to earn a reasonable income at or near national averages."

Critics of the plan — including the roughly 35 people who spoke against the proposals during a public hearing Tuesday night — say the changes would succeed only in putting people out of work.

"Does the City Council want to really put me out of a job?" asked Santos Mendoza, a Yellow Cab driver for the past eight years.

Among the proposed changes is replacing the current system of regulating taxi companies through city-issued "certificates of convenience" with a competitive bid process. Under the current proposal, the city contract would designate two companies and a total of 200 cabs to service the city.

City Council Chairman JT Martin, however, said the council is considering allowing between two and four companies.

Currently, 268 cabs have certificates to operate in the city, meaning at least 68 fewer cabs would be on the streets. That number could be much higher if an outside operation were to win one or more of the bids.

"If you take away our cabs ... drivers will lose jobs," said Don Barron, co-owner of the city's largest taxi company, Yellow Cab. "The cab companies will not be able to add any improvements. Service will decline, and Salt Lake City will lose in the long run."

Another sore spot for cab operators is the proposed requirement that cabs have a maximum age limit of five years or 300,000 miles.

Michael Gray, an independent cab driver with Yellow Cab, says he purchased a 2004 Ford with relatively low miles for $7,000 at an auto auction two years ago.