Taxi from Oakland Airport | L.A. to re-examine regulations controlling city's taxi companies

 By: Peter
Posted by:www.green-transportations.com

Taxi from Oakland Airport:

In a push to level the playing field for taxi firms competing with new, app-based ride-sharing businesses, Los Angeles officials agreed Thursday to re-examine hundreds of regulations that control the city's nine licensed cab companies.

At the urging of Mayor Eric Garcetti, the five members of the Board of Taxicab Commissioners said they would review a 64-page taxi rulebook with an eye toward scrapping some regulations and modifying others that put cabs at a competitive disadvantage.In a letter sent to the taxi board Wednesday, Garcetti urged the officials to "take all steps necessary to ensure equal competition." The growth of companies such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar means taxi officials need to update policies, including those governing availability of cabs and rates that can be charged, Garcetti wrote.

Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are regulated by the California Public Utility Commission and are not subject to Los Angeles taxi rules. However, city officials could modify existing policies, allowing more taxis to operate in the city or granting them more flexibility in setting fares.
Other U.S. cities, including Chicago, Houston and Seattle, have moved to impose controls on ride-sharing firms, requiring driver training, insurance policies and vehicle inspections. Los Angeles is the first major city to pursue the opposite strategy: easing regulations for legacy cab operations.

Garcetti's office did not respond to an interview request Thursday. Eric Spiegelman, the president of the taxi commission, declined to comment.

Customers summon ride-sharing services using smartphone apps, and drivers transport passengers in personal vehicles. The services are often marketed as a cheaper, more casual alternative to taxis and have rapidly gained popularity in L.A.

Uber, Lyft and Sidecar use flexible pricing models, called "surge pricing" or "prime time," that increase during peak periods, such as nights and weekends.

In contrast, Los Angeles' regulated cabs are required to charge fixed rates: $2.85 when a ride begins, and $2.70 for each subsequent mile. The City Council has capped the number of cabs in the city at 2,300, split among nine licensed companies.

The taxi commission's review of current rules will require "cooperation and regulation" from the state, Garcetti said in his letter. The statewide Public Utilities Commission requires ride-sharing services to obtain permits and comply with safety requirements, including vehicle inspections, basic insurance coverage and driver background checks.

Garcetti asked city taxi officials to present recommendations by the end of the year. Major policy changes, including ones involving fares, would have to be approved by the City Council.

Need a Taxi from Oakland Airport? Green Transportation is the best taxi service in Oakland for hiring. Taxi from Oakland Airport with Green transportation has been operating as Airport pick and drop for decades. Call today (510)434-1234 to book your ride.

Source: www.latimes.com

Taxi from Oakland Airport | New Service Offers Taxis Exclusively for Women

yellow cab

By: Tim
Posted By:www.green-transportations.com/


Taxi from Oakland Airport :
New Yorkers can already choose from yellow taxis, green cabs or black livery cars. They can tap a smartphone app for a ride, or simply stick out an arm. They can pay with cash or credit.

Now there is one more option: a female driver.

A new livery service starting Sept. 16 in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island will offer female drivers exclusively, for female riders, according to its founder. It will take requests for rides through an app, and dispatch drivers sporting hot pink pashmina scarves.

The service will be called SheTaxis — SheRides in New York City because of regulations barring it from using “taxi” in its name — and aims to serve women who may feel uncomfortable being driven by men, or who simply prefer the company of other women. The app will ask potential riders if there is a woman in their party. If not, they will be automatically redirected to other car services.

The app will be available only through Apple, starting on Sept. 16 and will eventually be made available for Android devices.

“Perfect idea,” declared Gretchen Britt, 51, a school clerk in Manhattan who uses cabs and livery cars three to four times a month, always driven by men. “You feel safer and more comfortable with a woman.”

It got a nod from one Bronx man, Gibson Pierrelouis, 22, even though he was told he could not use the service himself. That was fine, he said. He wanted it for his six sisters.

The women’s livery service was started by Stella Mateo, a mother of two daughters, who said that she could have used a female driver to help shuttle them to soccer, field hockey, basketball and gymnastics practices when they were growing up. Ms. Mateo’s husband, Fernando, is the founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, an industry group representing 30,000 taxi and livery drivers.

Ms. Mateo said she also saw her service as a way to help women join an industry that has long been dominated by men.

Of New York City’s 59,999 for-hire drivers of livery cars, green cabs, limousines and luxury sedans, only 2,952 of them, or 5 percent, are women, according to city data. Even fewer women drive yellow cabs: 574 out of 51,874 drivers, or 1 percent.

The new women’s service comes as the livery industry has become safer, in part, because of required measures, such as bullet-resistant partitions and security cameras in cars. During the 1990s, dozens of drivers were killed in a single year and many more assaulted or robbed. Even so, it can still be dangerous for men and women alike, as underscored last month by the fatal carjackings involving two male livery drivers in the Bronx.

Miriam Malave, 54, a livery driver in Brooklyn for three decades, said she gets more requests than she can handle, often from Hasidic women in Williamsburg who will only ride with women. Even so, she said, she continues to face discrimination from male drivers who tell her: “This is a man’s job. Go home and cook.”

SheTaxis will partner with existing livery companies to provide the rides at competitive rates, Ms. Mateo said. SheTaxis, which has a staff of six, has already recruited 50 female drivers, ranging in age from 21 to 70. The service will collect fares through its app, using credit or debit cards, and then send payments to the drivers. “I have a lot of friends, they think it’s dangerous picking up guys in the street,” said Stephanie Rodriguez, 21, a college student who earns about $700 a week driving a livery car in the Bronx.
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Meera Joshi, chairwoman of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, said she saw it as another amenity for riders: “As with so many service industries, the for-hire vehicle industry continues to get more and more specialized in terms of the products and services it offers.”

Ms. Mateo said she envisions the livery service expanding to Washington, Miami, Chicago and other cities during the next year. Similar women’s driving services exist in other countries, including India.

At a recent lunch in Manhattan, more than a dozen livery company owners and their representatives welcomed the women drivers, with several noting that women tended to be their best employees. “We can recruit more women and provide better service to the community,” said Jose Viloria, the owner of Elegante car service, where currently only 10 of the 350 drivers are women.

Cristina Velos, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, said she decided to become a livery driver after 17 years as a hotel housekeeper, earning $25 an hour. “I think there’s more opportunity,” said Ms. Velos, 42. “You have more time for family. You feel more comfortable. You never have a supervisor.”

Lizette Colon, 30, a marketing representative for a liquor distributor, said she will not only drive for the service on weekends, she will use it herself when she goes to clubs. If she rides with a male driver, she said, she snaps a picture of his license with her cellphone and sends it to a friend as a precaution. “I really don’t like getting into a car with a stranger,” she said. “You don’t know anything about him.”

Others, like Josephina Soto, 25, an aspiring singer looking for flexible hours, said she saw her new job as empowering to women, both in the front seat and the back. As a teenager, she recalled, she once tired of men flirting with her while she was working out and joined a Lucille Roberts gym for women only.

“This is the cab version of the gym,” she said. “I love the whole SheTaxis thing. Most of the time, there’s a lot of men-to-men stuff, but it’s not usually about the women.”


Need a Taxi from Oakland Airport? Green Transportation is the best taxi service in Oakland for hiring. Taxi from Oakland Airport with Green transportation has been operating as Airport pick and drop for decades. Call today (510)434-1234 to book your ride.

Source:www.nytimes.com