Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Taxis, not limos, driving debate

TIA board addresses the difficulty of finding a cab for short trips and learns that a taxi firm wants drivers sheltered.

By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Published June 8, 2007

TAMPA - The subject was limos. But discussion among Tampa International Airport's board of directors Thursday quickly veered in another direction: airport taxis.

How about separate cabs for short and long trips? Or incentives for cab operators to buy hybrid vehicles. Maybe taxi companies could post placards promoting Tampa Bay area events and attractions to riders.

A cab ride from the airport often serves as a visitor's first impression of a community. And airport runs make up a big chunk of a taxi company's business.

So, it's little wonder that cab service gets a lot of attention from the airport's board, made up of Tampa's mayor, a Hillsborough County commissioner and three members appointed by Florida's governor.

One of those commissioners, real estate developer Al Austin, brought up an age-old problem: drivers who balk at short trips to South Tampa after waiting as long as two hours in line for a fare. "They sometimes take their feelings out on the passenger," he said.

Austin suggested creating two lines for airport cabs, one for short rides and one for the rest.

Airport executive director Louis Miller said he raised the issue repeatedly, but cab companies said no. The president of Yellow Cab Co. in Tampa shot back that airport officials never discussed the change. "I'm glad you are," said Louis Minardi, also an owner of Yellow Cab.

Mayor Pam Iorio noted that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed converting the city's fleet of 12, 000 cabs to hybrids by 2012.

She suggested taking a share of the $400, 000 that Yellow and United Cab pay in airport fees and give them cash incentives for buying hybrids.

Iorio recently swapped her city-owned Lincoln Town Car for a Toyota Camry hybrid that gets 40 miles per gallon. Tampa will test 10 hybrids as part of the city's fleet replacement program. Miller pledged to look into the idea.

Minardi had a suggestion for the airport. Drivers now must line up for trips on an uncovered concrete lot with nowhere to sit. His company and United Cab asked the airport last month for a sun shade and benches.

"Our concern is not just the heat, but the rain," said Minardi. "They have to sit in their cars with the engines running, burning gas."

As for the limos, board members heard a recommendation to develop regulations and fees for luxury-car companies that pick up customers at Tampa International. They could vote on a proposal in September.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified June 7, 2007, 23:22:10]