"Phoenix airport taxis may cost more"

Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Airport taxis may cost more
Phoenix set to consider hike in fares
By Sarah Anchors
The Arizona Republic


The Phoenix City Council is looking to raise cab rates for airport
taxis, but some drivers fear the increase could end up driving off
customers.

The council is expected to vote on June 16 to renew four-year contracts
with the three taxi companies that service Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport, and in the process raise meter rates 30 cents a
mile. The increase would be the first since 1996 and put fares at $1.80
per mile. Traffic-delay fees would go up $2, to $20 per hour, for the
195 cabs that work out of the airport.

Managers for the three cab companies - Allstate, Discount and AAA - say
that they want the increase because of the growing cost of insurance and
compressed natural gas, which fuels the taxis. The same reasons led the
Tucson Airport Authority last week to raise taxi rates, which mirror
those in Phoenix.

Some travelers shrug at shelling out a few more dollars.

Shelly Schmucker, 33, of Scottsdale, said she rarely takes taxis but she
made an exception on Memorial Day at the airport.

"We just flew in from London, and I'm not waiting for a SuperShuttle,"
she said.

SuperShuttle offers shared-van rides, which often are cheaper than
hiring a taxi.

Roland Bouvart, 57, of Scottsdale, returning from France, said much the
same as he got into a taxi: "I want to go home fast."

It's not small change for cabbies. Higher meter rates would mean more
income for taxi drivers, but some say it could hurt business.
Competition is cutthroat at the airport, where limousines offer shared
rides, and van shuttles and VIP sedans sometimes pick up passengers who
haven't made a reservation.

"We need to decrease the fee," said Mohamed Omar, 27, a driver. "If they
hear we are increasing the meter, we will lose a lot of customers to
SuperShuttle." 

SuperShuttle rates aren't going up with natural-gas prices, and they may
even go down, said Ken Testani, vice president of marketing for Phoenix
SuperShuttle. 

Testani said about 50,000 people take SuperShuttle to or from the
airport every month. The company plans to reconfigure the rates in a
month or two to take into consideration the convenience of new freeway
sections.

Taxi driver M.J. Said, 39, said the increase in rates won't mean more
money for drivers if cab companies charge drivers more to lease cars.

Tim Gorman, district manager for Allstate Cab Co., said leases likely
will rise. Still, 75 percent of the extra profits will go to the
drivers, he said.

Van Means, director of AAA Full Transportation, said that after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the company had to lower the car-lease costs
for drivers to $75 from $95 a day.

The rate increase will give drivers $24 to $28 more a day, he said, so
the company plans to raise the lease $10 a day.

"The rate increase is way past due," Means said.

Gas and insurance prices have risen during the past few years, he said.
The airport taxis run on compressed natural gas, the cost of which has
risen to $1.75 from $1.36 a gallon equivalent, in about 18 months, said
Mark Riley, account manager for Clean Energy's Phoenix branch.

Premiums for auto insurance are 30 percent higher this year than last,
according to a city aviation report.

Managers at taxi companies say the airport contract is not profitable,
but they stay in it for the prestige.


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