Orange City Council Denies License to Taxi Company

A-AAA Taxi won’t be picking up fares in Orange any time soon.

The Orange City Council last week unanimously denied the Santa Ana-based taxi service a license to take fares originating in Orange.

City Council members said that Orange already has two licensed taxi companies that provide excellent service and that the addition of a third company would lower profit margins.

“We have a limited demand,” said Councilman Fred L. Barrera. “Bringing in another taxi service would dilute the demand in these hard times.”

But a company representative said that they frequently bring people into Orange and that it only makes sense to let them accept requests for service from Orange.

“We’re bringing many people into Orange but we can’t bring them out,” said Mike Casey, the general manager of A-AAA Taxi. “Competition helps the citizens and should help the city.”

As an example, Casey said that his company frequently brings people from the Anaheim hotel district to shop in Orange but cannot honor requests to take them back to their lodgings.

But Larry Slagle, president of Yellow Cab of North Orange County, one of the two taxi firms that serve Orange, said that almost all taxi services have to turn down some requests for jurisdictional reasons.

“We also take people into other cities--such as Los Angeles or Long Beach--where we can’t pick them up or take them back.”

Orange Coast Yellow Cab also serves residents of Orange.

This is the second rejection in three years for A-AAA Taxi from the Orange City Council. In 1989, they also tried to get the city to allow them to do business within its boundaries, but were turned down for similar reasons.

Casey said the only cities in Orange County the company doesn’t service are Orange and Fountain Valley.