Little Impact on Congestion : Cabs Still Mired in Airport Snarl Despite New Rule

Airport officials and cab drivers said Thursday that a new rule designed to reduce the glut of taxis at Lindbergh Field has had virtually no impact on the overcrowding.

The rule, which went into effect July 1, cuts to 150 the number of cabs that can pick up passengers at the airport on any given day. Previously, the operators of the 450 cabs allowed to pick up passengers at the airport could work the airport every other day; now they can come only every third day.

Apparently, however, many of the drivers who used to skip coming to the airport now come every chance they get.

“When you only get to work at the airport every third day, you’re going to be there. I think that’s a fair assumption,” said Bud McDonald, manager of the airport.

Line Still Long

As a consequence, the line of cabs waiting for passengers is about as long as ever, with more than a dozen cabs parking illegally, or “hanging,” drivers and airport officials said.

Drivers who park illegally until they inch their way to an overcrowded waiting zone risk getting a $32 ticket from police. The tickets can sometimes consume an entire day’s profit.

None of the drivers interviewed Thursday were pleased with the new arrangement, which was part of an ordinance approved in February by the Port Authority. The ordinance will also require that cab drivers working Lindbergh Field demonstrate proficiency in English and a knowledge of the San Diego area, but those stipulations probably will not be implemented until next month, McDonald said.

A dress code barring drivers from wearing shorts, T-shirts, tank tops and sandals is also part of the ordinance but also has not yet been implemented, McDonald said.

Cabbies at the airport, however, thought that the dress code had already gone into effect, and nearly all of them said it is a good idea.

“I like the dress code. I don’t think a cab driver should be out here looking sloppy,” said driver Don Flanders. “I feel that a cab driver should be neat and clean. Who wants to get in with a smelly cab driver? A lot of them are like that--they go four, five days in a cab without a shower.”

Steve Wrischnik, a Port Authority employee who oversees the flow of cabs into the terminal, said only a few drivers have objected to the dress code. He added, “That thermometer over there, when it starts to hit 105, 106, 107, they start to wear shorts, sandals and a light T-shirt . . . But by the middle of the month, they should be used to (the dress code). I hope they are.”

Not Here to ‘Look Pretty’

One driver, Roy Inslee of USA Cab, was opposed to the dress code, which requires that men wear a shirt with a collar. “We’re not out here to look pretty, we’re out here to do a job,” he said. “You sit out here for 18 hours, you’re not going to smell pretty either.”

Most drivers, Inslee included, were much angrier about having their access cut to the airport, the most dependable place in town to pick up a fare.

Under the new system, each of the cabs licensed to work Lindbergh Field is issued a sticker that indicates which days it can work the airport. The rule was intended to cut down on the number of cabs waiting for fares, but because there is not enough space for even 100 cabs to park legally, many of them are left “hanging” in unauthorized areas.

Several drivers said they think the ordinance will squeeze out San Diego’s independent cab drivers, who can’t compete against industry giants like Yellow Cab.

Nasser Ghalebi, a cab driver from La Mesa, said he pays $235 a week to lease his cab. “Before this proposal, I could easily pay that $235. But after the first of July (when the new rule went into effect), I work longer for less money,” he said.

Airport cabbies often have to wait an hour or two for a fare, and then, as often as not, their customer only wants to travel a short distance.

Little Difference

It was hoped that the ordinance would reduce the length of time cab drivers had to wait in line, but neither airport officials nor the drivers believe it has made much difference.

Cab driver Joan Berry, a “visual artist” originally from Florida, said the new rule has made “very little” difference in how long she has to wait for a customer. “It might have shaved off 10 minutes,” she said.

Cab driver Kawa Halmat blamed the Port Authority for allowing too many cab operators at the airport. “It’s a problem that starts with them, not us. I’m just here to make a living,” he said.

McDonald, the airport manager, agreed that the number of cabs at the airport should be limited even more. “We think you can get along out here with less than 100 taxi cabs--much less. Eighty, maybe,” he said.

The problem, McDonald said, is that while it is easy to issue more permits, it is much less palatable to take permits away from cab drivers who have had them for years.

“Nobody wants to put 370 people out of work. That’s a political decision, not an operational decision,” he said.

The drivers’ complaints again raise the issue of whether there are too many cabs in San Diego. In 1980, 411 cabs were licensed in the city of San Diego; in 1983, there were 928. The city now has a cap on the number of cabs--928--but the number of licensed drivers is still quite high--nearly 900.

“The industry more than doubled in a three-year period, so that’s a lot to absorb,” said Barbara Lupro, who oversees cab permits for the city.

Lupro noted, however, that very few cab operators would willingly give up their permit. “You’ve got people saying, ‘You’ve got too many cabs out there,’ yet you’ve always got people willing to buy someone else’s permit,” she said.