|
Taxi drivers push city for rate increase green light
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff writer
Gas prices are a pain no matter who you are or what you drive. But for Charleston’s taxi drivers, whose livelihood depends on keeping the tank full and the car running, those big numbers posted outside the corner gas station are even more painful.
According to AAA, the average price per gallon of regular gas in South Carolina as of mid-October was $2.76, down slightly from the month before but up from $1.88 at the same time in 2004.
For the Charleston-North Charleston area, the average was $2.79, also down slightly from the previous month but up from $1.88 the year before.
The year-to-year increase, combined with the post-Katrina spike, which led to all-time high prices of $3.15 for the state and $3.18 in the Charleston area in early September, has local cab drivers reeling and the Charleston City Council contemplating action.
A public hearing regarding a proposal to increase cab fares will take place at the council’s Nov. 8 meeting.
The basic outline of the proposal, provided to the Business Journal by Hernan Pena Jr., director of the city’s traffic and transportation department, is this:
Currently, metered taxis charge $2 for the first one-fifth of a mile, and each additional one-fifth of a mile costs 25 cents. There is also a $1 fuel surcharge.
Under the proposal, the first one-fifth of a mile would still cost $2, but each additional one-fifth of a mile would cost 35 cents. The $1 fuel surcharge would be eliminated.
Companies that charge a flat rate depending on which “zone” a passenger is traveling in, which are currently $3 or $4, including a $1 surcharge, would be allowed to charge up to $5. They could also tack on $1.75 per mile for trips exceeding 10 miles in the largest zone, which includes parts of Johns Island, James Island, West Ashley, Daniel Island and Cainhoy.
Charleston’s Express Cab Co. charges flat rates, and owner Jacquelyn Heyward explained that zones are sort of like circles. Zone one is peninsular Charleston. Zone two encompasses an area greater than that but still in the city limits. Zone three is larger still and so on.
Heyward will be present at the Nov. 8 meeting to show her support for her struggling drivers, she said.
“It’s taking a pretty good dip into their profit,” Heyward said of her nearly 50 drivers who operate Ford Crown Victorias.
Heyward’s drivers, as is typical in the taxi business, rent their cars from the company but keep whatever they make in fares. Drivers are also responsible for gas costs.
Drivers use between one and two tanks of gas every day.
“It’s between $60 and $70 to fill up right now,” Heyward said. “In recent months it’s gone up incredibly.”
Compounding the situation for cab drivers, Heyward said, is that the taxi business experiences peaks and valleys like any other business. Drivers can’t depend on a steady income. If they break the bank on gas one day, they can’t depend on fares to make up for it the next.
“If fluctuates day to day depending on the time of the month and the needs of the people. At the first of the month, the phone is ringing off the hook. People are getting their retirement checks, their Social Security checks. They need to go to the bank and the laundry and do their chores,” Heyward said.
By the middle and end of each month, however, calls for cab service slow considerably and gas costs hurt even more.
Heyward said her customers are prepared to pay the increased fares.
“They keep saying, ‘you guys haven’t gone up yet,’” she said. “They’re expecting it.”
The last time cab fares were adjusted was in 1997.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version