Countywide : Imbibers Can Get a Safe Ride Home

A service that offers free cab rides home for customers who have had too much to drink kicks off its seventh year today in Orange County.

Taxi Time, a program co-funded by several local beer and wine distributors, will operate through New Year’s Eve as a joint venture of the local chapter of the California Beer and Wine Wholesalers Assn., several cab companies, restaurants, bars and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Operators of the program said the number of holiday merrymakers who relied on a free taxi ride home last year increased almost eightfold from 1989, and they hope that this year’s campaign will be even more successful.

“Nobody wants anyone to drink and drive, and we in the (beer and wine) industry are very aware of responsible consumption,” said Jean Libunao, sales promotion manager for Straub Distributing. “We prefer that you not consume alcohol if you plan to get behind the wheel.”

At the start of the program seven years ago, about 200 calls were logged for the season. But in 1990, taxi companies received more than 1,700 calls from people seeking free rides during a 12-day period, Libunao said.

Program organizers credited the jump to greater public awareness of the service and the rise in the number of participating establishments. More than 2,800 restaurants and bars have signed on to the program this year.

“We think it’s a fabulous program, especially during the holidays,” said Glenn Willer, Manager of the Catch, an Anaheim restaurant. “You never really know when one person has had one drink too many.”

Under the program, anyone who wants a free ride home from a participating establishment can ask the manager to call a participating cab company. Local beverage wholesalers have distributed information on the program to their customers.

Taxi companies will not accept calls directly from patrons, and will not provide a ride to another drinking establishment, program organizers said.