S.D. Cabdrivers to Charge Uniform Rates

San Diego cabdrivers will charge uniform rates, the Metropolitan Transit Development Board decided Thursday, with possible discounts for frequent riders, senior citizens and the disabled.

Specific fares will be determined by the board’s staff and submitted for the board’s approval Feb. 8, said Thomas Larwin, board general manager. The new fares might not start for several months.

The actions resolved one situation posed by the current deregulated taxi fare system but left another unanswered.

The board approved a uniform rate for taxis leaving the airport, thus easing confusion and traffic congestion caused by myriad rates and structures.

“We know we have a problem at the airport,” said Robert Burns, a board member. “I think that this will go a long way towards resolving it.”

The taxicab situation at Lindbergh Field has been compared to a “Turkish bazaar” by Board of Port Commissioners Chairman Louis Wolfsheimer.

In a second action, the board decided to implement uniform rates throughout San Diego, but also asked the staff to return with recommendations on discounts for San Diegans who rely on taxis, including the elderly and those with low incomes. Those recommendations may also be presented at the Feb. 8 meeting.

Board member Bud Harbin said the intent of the second motion was to put all cabs on equal footing, while giving those willing to offer discounts the opportunity to do so.

“It does not require anybody to offer a discount, what it does is put in motion a discount if they would like to offer one,” Harbin said.

The mechanism for those discounts has not been decided yet, Larwin said.

“What kind of mechanism it will be, I don’t know,” he said.

But Michael Dalla, a National City councilman and board member, said the discounts complicated a move that had been meant to make fares simpler.

“We’re almost back to square one because now we have to come up with a mechanism for implementing discounts,” Dalla said. “I opposed the second motion because it seems a little ambiguous in how it was going to be implemented and making it simpler (with the uniform rate) was going to make it more expensive.”

“Now we’ve placed it in the staff’s hands, and we’ll see what magic that they can perform,” Dalla said.

Dalla said he believes uniform rates will result in higher fares. Fares under the existing system range from $1.20 to $1.80 per mile, and it has been speculated that the uniform rate will be near $1.60.

“Higher rates are not going to necessarily guarantee better service,” Dalla said.

Some members of the taxi industry argued that a uniform structure, though it would be higher than the lowest rates now charged, would improve service, requiring cabs to compete on an equal footing.

“Uniform pricing directs competition in the area of service competition, whether it be new cars, trained drivers or quick response,” said Donald Swortwood, president of Yellow Cab Co., the largest taxi company in San Diego. “Lack of uniform pricing . . . forces competition of prices at the expense of quality.”

“If they set the uniform price at a well-thought-out level, they should get the best of both worlds, which is to say quality, service and competition at a reasonable price,” said Swortwood, adding that Yellow Cab would be able to live with whatever price is decided upon.