Anaheim May Hold the Line on Taxi Permits

As a cabdriver in Anaheim, Adam Sonke goes through hot and cold spells. There are days, like Monday, when business is mind-numbingly slow, he says.

Then there are the days, especially in the summertime or during huge conventions, when the 45-year-old cabby simply can’t keep up. Customers have to wait more than an hour before they can finally clamber into his yellow-and-white vehicle.

Sonke, drawing on five years of experience driving around Anaheim’s mix of conventioneers, Mouseketeers and residents in need of a lift, simply says: “We need more cabs.”

The Anaheim City Council doesn’t necessarily think so. The city is considering a moratorium today on new taxi permits for an area popular with tourists and conventioneers.

Following the announcements two years ago that Disneyland, the Anaheim Convention Center and area resorts would expand, city officials have been besieged by taxicab companies seeking to crack what they see as a lucrative market, said John Poole, the city’s code enforcement manager.

The convention center is undergoing renovation that will expand its capacity by 40%. Across the street, a second Disney theme park is being built.

Hotel occupancy in Orange County has been down during the past year, and several major conventions have been diverted elsewhere during construction, but hotel managers predict a boom in business in the near future.

In the meantime, however, Poole and his staff are recommending that the council deny all new taxi permit requests pending the formation of a committee to review the city’s taxicab needs.

“We think it’s premature to allow any more cabs in the city until we’ve had more time to study it,” Poole said. “We have a large amount of tourism, but we want to make sure we have a balance.”

Safety concerns, as well as a desire to limit conflict among cabbies eager for customers at major tourist venues, are driving the city’s desire to limit the permits, he said.

The fleet of taxis operating today in the city is more than adequate to serve the community, he added, pointing out that the city has received just two complaints during the past six months from residents or visitors who say a cab shortage is a problem.

About 165 taxicabs from two companies are permitted to operate in the city.

A Taxi Cab, which operates 50 of those cabs, petitioned the city in November to allow its fleet to expand to 108. Included in its request are letters of support from 22 hotels.

Anaheim Yellow Cab of North Orange County operates the rest of the cabs in the city but has not made any request for additional vehicles.

South Coast Cab Co., which does not have a permit to operate in the city, filed a request in April for 117 cabs to be phased in over time, with 29 of those vehicles starting immediately.

Representatives of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Greater Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and Disneyland have all sent letters to the city saying no more cabs are needed.

Disney officials declined to comment further Monday. Chamber of Commerce members did not return phone calls Monday, but stated in a letter sent to Poole in November: “[T]here does not appear to be any overwhelming need for additional taxis at the present time.”

In addition to the letters, a city-commissioned survey sent to businesses that use taxicab services found that 55% of those who responded said there were enough taxicabs or more than enough cabs. The remaining 45% said there were either not enough taxicabs or enough except during conventions. The city sent the survey to 134 businesses; 34 responded.

Savvas Roditis, who owns South Coast Cab Co., said the city staff is being influenced in part by Larry Slagle, president of Yellow Cab of North Orange County, who is a board member of the Anaheim chamber and the visitors and convention bureau. Yellow Cab has operated in Anaheim since 1945, and Roditis said the company wants to keep competitors out of the neighborhood.

Slagle said he did not play any part in influencing Poole’s recommendation. Moreover, he said he was unaware the chamber sent Poole a letter, but he defends the chamber’s position that no more cabs are needed.

“This is just business,” he said. “If you have no complaints, you can draw the conclusion that we have enough taxicabs.”

But a valet parking manager at one of largest hotels in the city said Anaheim “definitely” needs more taxicabs.

Bill Sweeney, valet manager at the Anaheim Marriott said on some nights, long lines for taxis stretch from the hotel.

“Sometimes, we’re hurting for cabs,” Sweeney said. “When big conventions come to town, nighttime is the worst. Everyone wants to go out to eat and do stuff, so they call a cab.”

Smaller hotels also report a taxing plight.

“If a customer wants a cab, he doesn’t want to wait 25 minutes, and of course delayed service reflects badly on us,” said Jackie Dinkel, marketing director for Best Western. “It’s our fault.”

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Hailing a Taxi

Regulation of taxi service varies widely in California, with companies operating in cities like Anaheim and Long Beach enjoying a near monopoly on service. Here’s how Anaheim now compares:

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Area Taxi Population (sq. mi.) companies Vehicles Long Beach 450,000 130 1 105 Santa Monica 87,000 8 35 483 Oakland 386,000 54 39 282 San Jose 1,000,000 176 12 460 Anaheim 301,000 50 2 165

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Source: City of Anaheim