Transit Officials Call For Uniform Taxicab Charges

San Diego cab companies will be required to charge identical fares and give discounts to local residents who are frequent taxi riders under a proposal endorsed by Metropolitan Transit Development Board officials.

The recommendations, which are expected to be approved Thursday at a board of directors meeting, will replace a variable rate system that has brought howls of protest from tourists and airport officials. Under the deregulated fare system, cab companies may charge whatever they please up to a maximum rate set by the transit board.

Transit officials, who released details of the proposals Friday, recommended a standard rate of $1.60 per mile and $1.40 for the flag drop. Fares now range from $1.20 per mile to $1.83 per mile, while the flag drop ranges from $1.17 to $1.41.

Besides a uniform fare, officials recommended that frequent taxi riders be given a 10% discount. The agency is proposing that cab patrons buy an annual MTDB-issued identification card that would allow them to receive the discounts. The proposals did not state how much the cards would cost. However, transit officials recommended that the price cover the cost of administering the discount program.

The standard fare and discount program, which would be effective only in San Diego, are scheduled to become effective June 1, 1991.

The city’s Dial-a-Ride program now subsidizes cab rides for poor and elderly residents, up to $40 a month. Qualified residents, who earn less than $15,000 annually, pay $10 a month to the city for up to $40 in coupons. The city reimburses the cab companies for the full value of the coupons. According to the transit board, about 5,000 persons participate in the program and take about 320,000 trips per year.

The new proposals were generally supported by the taxi industry, which acknowledged last year that the variable rates were confusing and caused some riders to protest that they were being cheated. Anthony Palmeri, vice president and general manager of Yellow Cab, the largest taxi company in the city, said uniform fares would spur competition.

“It will solve a lot of problems in the city and at the airport. Instead of picking a cab according to price, people will now choose cabs according to quality of service,” Palmeri said. “I’m going to have to compete by providing good service and drivers who are cheerful and courteous. We’re going to have to give you a prompt response time and clean cars in order to keep you as a customer. This will be true of all companies, and it can’t be anything but good for the public.”

However, Parvis Ebrahimi, owner of Coast Cab, the city’s second largest taxi company, protested that the uniform rate will hurt his company. Coast Cab, which charges $1.20 per mile, has the lowest fare in the city and relies mostly on elderly, low-income riders.

“I think that the citizens are going to suffer. We’re going to be facing some unhappy customers. We were comfortable charging $1.20. Now I’m being forced to charge a higher rate,” Ebrahimi said.

As an alternative, he had proposed a “uniform discount rate as an option for low-income people.” According to Ebrahimi, the transit board should set a higher uniform rate for companies that do not want to offer discounts and a standard discount rate for companies willing to charge cheaper fares.

Other proposals endorsed by transit officials include a charge of $12 per hour for waiting time and the use of the Consumer Price Index to establish future rates, which would be reviewed every January. The plan also calls for cabs to be inspected twice a year, instead of the annual inspection now in effect.