By Eric Roper
11/28/2011
The city's regulatory committee delayed action on a proposal requiring taxicabs to accept credit cards Monday, but approved a new regulation that restricts drivers from using cell phones.
Taxi drivers and industry representatives lined the Council chambers for the hearing on a multi-faceted modernization of the taxi code.
The cell phone restriction was passed along with a host of technical changes and alterations of the driver dress code. The next stop for that ordinance is the full City Council.
Councilmember Gary Schiff was slated to move forward his proposal requiring electronic credit card readers in cabs, but postponed it because of concerns about card service fees being passed to drivers. It was delayed until January.
"I don't want drivers to be penalized for a passenger who uses a credit card," Schiff said. "The purpose of this ordinance change is to make it easier for people to use taxis by giving people the option of cash or credit."
Mark Shields, a driver with Rainbow Taxi, worried that drivers will be charged high service fees and experience delays receiving their money.
"I dont want this dumped on the drivers," Shields said.
The new cell phone ordinance states that cab drivers cannot "operate a taxicab while using a wireless telephone, including a wireless telephone equipped with hands-free technology, except for emergency purposes."
That change did not arise in committee discussion, but Yemane Mebrahtu with the Minneapolis Taxicab Drivers and Owners Association said in an interview they oppose the language as it's written.
He said they had an understanding with the city that the change would only prohibit cell phone use when passengers are in the cab.
"If we don't have a passenger, [we] should be able freely to do our business," said Mebrahtu, the group's president. "Because we get a call from customers, we get a call from families."
Grant Wilson, the city’s manager of business licensing, said the intent of the bill is to bar cell phone use only when passengers are in the car. They will examine whether that language needs to be clarified, he said.
By: Nick Sudheimer
11/29/2011
Bari Niaz, president of Checker Cabs in Minneapolis, said he supports the ordinances, but admits they will make it harder for smaller cab companies to compete.Niaz went on to say he hopes this will indirectly address a larger problem in the cab industry — the city allowing too many taxi licenses.
“For smaller companies, credit card companies won’t approve them but again it comes back to the city,” Niaz said. “The city will give [licenses] to anybody and now we have a problem because people complain and they think that every company has this problem [with credit card readers].”
Zen Tesseena, a driver for Blue and White Taxi, said he has noticed a significant increase in tips and ridership since he installed a credit card reader in his cab, which he said was one of the first card readers in Minneapolis.
Though he echoed Niaz’s concern with the number of cabs in Minneapolis, Tesseena doesn’t have any problems with the proposed changes.
“It doesn’t matter what the city does at this point; we are there so we will just do it,” Tesseena said. “Minneapolis is a beautiful city, and we love Minneapolis, and hopefully this will make things better for Minneapolis.”
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