L.A. Officials Urge Rival Taxi Firms to Stop Feuding

Los Angeles city officials Thursday told the two taxi firms that serve the San Fernando Valley that they should eliminate the bitterness in their business rivalry that has led to accusations of illegal actions against both firms.

The call for peace came from the Los Angeles City Board of Transportation Commissioners, which met to hear evidence gathered by city transportation inspectors against Valley Cab Co. and San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co.

However, because several commissioners had to leave early, the commission ended the meeting after hearing evidence on the charges against Valley Cab. The commissioners scheduled an Oct. 8 meeting to discuss the charges against the other firm and to decide whether to impose penalties on the two companies.

Each company had reported alleged violations by the other, which resulted in city inspections. Commissioner Nathan Chroman reprimanded both firms, saying they should meet to put a halt to their increasingly bitter business battle.

He asked representatives of the two companies to meet to “offer some reasonable alternative so maybe we don’t have to go through this again.”

Checker Cab, owned by Burbank-based Babaeian Transportation Co., is accused of illegally referring Valley business to a shuttle car service that does not have a Los Angeles city taxi license, a violation of city ordinances.

Babaeian waged a costly two-year campaign to break an eight-year Valley taxi monopoly held by Valley Cab by hiring powerful lobbyists and making large campaign contributions to key city officials. The issue eventually was fought out before the City Council, which voted unanimously to give Babaeian a franchise.

Valley Cab Co., in turn, is accused of advertising in several telephone books under the name Checker Cab and Yellow Cab.

The firm has been warned repeatedly by city transportation officials as far back as 1986 to stop advertising under other names.

Steven M. Neimand, a lawyer for Valley Cab, said Valley Cab had in the past placed ads in several telephone books under the names Checker Cab and Yellow Cab but stopped when Checker Cab was given a franchise to serve the Valley.

But Alan Willis, a senior transportation engineer in the city’s franchise regulation division, said ads were placed as late as March 20, 1992, in four different telephone books under the name Checker Cab and Yellow Cab.

The phone number on the ads, however, does not connect the caller to the Babaeian-owned taxi company, which has the right to use the Checker Cab name in the Valley, he said. Instead, the caller reaches an operator who refers all calls for taxis to the Valley Cab number, Willis said.

When questioned by commission members, George Piedra, general manager of Valley Cab, acknowledged that he placed the most recent ads under the name Checker Cab and Yellow Cab. He said he also hired the telephone answering service to refer all calls for taxi service to Valley Cab.

Piedra said he placed the ads, not to steer customers away from the rival firm, but because he hopes to someday start his own separate taxi service and wanted to get an ad in the phone book ahead of time.

Several commissioners expressed disbelief, saying Piedra does not need an ad because he has neither a taxi nor a license to operate a taxi company.

“This is blatant sidestepping to get more numbers in the Yellow Pages,” commission President David Leveton said.

Asked after the hearing what he thought of Piedra’s explanation, Willis commented, laughing, that he did not want to express for publication “my true feelings on this.”

Gilbert M. Archuletta, an attorney for Babaeian, said the ad is hurting Checker Cab’s business and asked the commission to require Valley Cab to refer to Checker Cab all future calls the ad generates. “The public is deceived in believing that there are two Checker Cab companies,” he said.

Scott Schaffer, general manager of Checker Cab, has said in the past that the charges against his company resulted from a mistake.

He said a city transportation inspector called Checker Cab on a routine test and Checker Cab referred the call to a shuttle car service that does not have a license to operate taxis in the city. Schaffer said the request was referred because Checker Cab had only 10 vehicles in operation at the time and could not respond to all calls for service.