City Council today is set to consider major changes to the taxicab industry in this era of Uber, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Ever since City Council approved the operation of so called Transportation Network Companies like Uber, Lyft, and GetMe in the city, the taxi industry has been demanding changes to level the playing field and allow them to remain competitive.
Unfortunately, the cabbies themselves are divided on some of the proposals.
One, for example, would remove the current cap of 886 on the number of licensed taxicabs that would be allowed in San Antonio.Some cab drivers say since there is no cap on the number of Uber drivers out there, it is unfair to cab their numbers.
But others complain that such a move would flood the city with taxicabs, and would lead to gridlock at the Airport, at downtown Hotels, and other places where taxi cabs can wait for fares. TNC drivers are not allowed to wait for pickups, they have to be called using the Uber app.
City staffers say when the City of San Diego decided to lift its cap on cab licenses, there was a huge spike in numbers for a brief time, but then the numbers returned largely to their previous level.
Another proposal is to allow independent owner operator cab drivers. Currently, all licensed taxi drivers must be associated with an operator, and pay a fee to that operator.
The companies point out that Uber drivers have to pay a fee to Uber, and the fees they collect go to the dispatch system which benefits all cabbies and taxi drivers.
In addition, Council is set to lift the caps on so called 'Group Cycles.' Those are the pedal powered 'party buses,' where groups of people, occasionally drinking beer, pedal themselves around restaurant and bar centers like Southtown and the Pearl.
City staffers say they have allowed a limited number of Group Cycles for the past year, and there have been no complaints about their operations.