City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 8, 2013
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution to Establish a Taxicab Task Force. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Consideration of a resolution to establish a Taxicab Task Force.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council approve the resolution establishing a nine member Taxicab Task Force, and authorize the Mayor to appoint the members of the Task Force and authorize the City Clerk to advertise these vacancies and request that representatives from the following groups participate in the work of the Task Force:
- Commission on Aging, 1 representative
- Alexandria Police Department/Hack Office, 1 representative
- Traffic and Parking Board, 1 representative
- Taxicab Company Owner, 1 representative
- Taxicab Driver, 1 representative
- City Council, 1 representative
- Community Services Board, 1 representative
- Alexandria Commission on Persons with Disabilities, 1 representative
- Department of Transportation and Environmental Services (T&ES), 1 staff representative
DISCUSSION:
In 1982, the Taxicab Ordinance was changed so that ownership of Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (certificates) was transferred from taxicab drivers to the owners of the taxicab companies. This allowed the City to streamline the process of communication with the city's taxicab industry by directing complaints to the taxicab companies.
On June 26, 2001, City Council established a Taxicab Task Force to review the Alexandria taxicab industry and develop recommendations for possible regulatory changes. The Task Force was charged with consideration of a number of concerns raised by some drivers, primarily relating to control of the certificates. The Task Force consisted of representation from City Council, Traffic and Parking Board; the Alexandria Commission on Persons with Disabilities; drivers from the city's taxicab industry, the taxicab companies and it was staffed from the departments of Planning & Zoning, and the Alexandria Police Department. It lacked representation from the Commission on Aging, and the Consumer Affairs Commission.
The 2001 Task Force developed the following recommendations:
- Institute a two-tier system with two categories of taxicabs - airport taxicabs and local radio-dispatch taxicabs;
- Institute a recall of five percent of the certificates over a two year period; use these recalled certificates to create a certificate pool;
- Change the City Code to require taxicab companies to create a dispute resolution process to mediate disputes between drivers and the taxicab companies;
- Create a position on the Traffic and Parking Board dedicated to representing the taxicab industry; and,
- Have staff develop a process to issue certificates directly to long-term drivers who have driven an Alexandria taxicab for many years.
These recommendations were never adopted by Council.
Following the March 23, 2004, work session on taxicab issues, Council approved a motion directing the City Manager to establish a Taxicab Work Group to consider changes in the taxicab industry, seek consensus, and report its findings to Council at the legislative meeting on May 12, 2004. The Council found that substantial change in the taxicab industry in Alexandria is required to strike an appropriate balance between maintaining high standards of customer service, driver independence, and opportunity for mobility, competition between taxicab companies, and economic stability within the industry.
The Taxicab Work Group was established and consisted of five owner-operator/driver representatives and five company representatives, and was chaired by the City's consultant, Mr. Bruce Schaller. Following the second meeting, the owner-operators withdrew from the process and declined further participation. The remainder of the group continued to meet. The regulatory framework adopted by the work group had two core features: issuing a portion of the current certificates to drivers, and maintaining the requirement that all companies have 24 hour dispatch service. Other key provisions involved use requirements for certificate holders; limiting the number of certificates that may be operated by any one company; and providing companies with the ability to apply for additional certificates based on increased call volume. These provisions were never adopted due to lack of driver support.
At the May 12, 2004 public hearing, Council directed staff to prepare additional information for its consideration regarding (1) alternative regulatory frameworks that had been proposed for the Alexandria taxicab industry, and (2) developing a market profile of the level of customer satisfaction with the local taxicab industry. At the May 25, 2004 legislative meeting, Council asked for two work group members to review the various taxicab framework proposals submitted to Council and in collaboration with staff and consultant support, develop recommendations for Council's consideration and action.
During the summer of 2004, Councilmen Krupicka and Gaines worked with staff and the consultant to create a framework to address taxicab industry concerns from the consumer, driver, and owner perspectives.
In June 2005, Ordinance 4402 was passed. Ordinance 4402 significantly changed the Alexandria taxicab industry by: 1) allowing drivers to transfer between companies; 2) requiring companies to meet specific dispatch service requirements; and, 3) requiring companies to have cause for terminating drivers.
One result of this ordinance was that large numbers of drivers transferred from the city dispatch companies to companies primarily serving the airport. The airport companies were not able to meet their local service requirements and the dispatch companies were not able to keep pace with customer demand for local service because there were too few drivers in the city. To address these issues the City placed a moratorium on the dispatch call requirement and later in 2008, revised the Taxicab Ordinance. The new rule restricted driver movement between companies to one transfer every two years and allowed transfer only to companies in compliance with the minimum dispatch requirement.
In 2012, a group of taxicab drivers contacted Tenants and Workers United (TWU) for assistance in changing the Taxicab ordinance to increase transfers from biennially to annually and other measures that would effectively eliminate the minimum dispatch requirements.
The purpose of the proposed Taxicab Task Force is to review and provide recommendations on TWU's proposals and to advise the City regarding the Traffic and Parking Board's proposal to allow grandfathered driver certificates to become permanent when the certificate holder retires. This role is significantly different from the previous Taxicab Work Groups because the City is not seeking wholesale undefined changes in the industry but recommendations on specific defined issues.
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Resolution
Attachment 2: TWU's Proposal to improve Alexandria taxicab industry structure
STAFF:
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Chris Spera, Deputy City Attorney
Jerome Fletcher, Special Assistant to the City Manager
Richard J. Baier, Director, T&ES
Sandra Marks, Acting Deputy Director, T&ES
Bob Garbacz, Division Chief, Transportation, T&ES
1