Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah residents could soon be paying more to use taxi cabs in and around Salt Lake City.
There also could be other changes made to the city's transporation system. That's according to a Tennessee consultant who studied the issue and made recommendations to the City Council last night.
Consultant Ray A. Mundy said there's already an excess of taxi drivers within Salt Lake City. Last night, he made several recommendations for the city's taxi services that he said proliferated after the Olympics.
Some of the suggestions included eliminating the current three-cab-company system and opening the market to competition, freezing all new applications for taxi driver permits.
He also recommended requiring fleets to keep only vehicles that are less than six-years-old.
Mundy contends that many of the changes would improve the city's image. Council members will probably hold several public hearings regarding the proposed changes.
The issue of the cab-fare increase would require a separate public hearing
------
Other recommendations include:
- Enforce current city ordinances defining what constitutes a taxi service and what constitutes a shuttle service.
- Make it illegal for hotel workers to receive payment for calling a cab, which leads to favoritism.
- Dropping mandates requiring cab companies to use their cabs a certain number of days in the year.
- Restricting trips to the airport, allowing each taxi to go there only on odd- or even-numbered days.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
