Alexandria has reached a settlement with three taxicab companies that were suing the city over its 2005 ordinance that required each cab company to average at least two dispatch calls per driver per day, The Examiner has learned.
Columbus Cab, King Cab and VIP Cab were scheduled to lose their certificates at the end of the month for failing to meet the city’s quota, but have been granted a six-month extension under the terms of the settlement, said Tom Culpepper, deputy director of transportation and environmental services.
Culpepper declined to disclose the other terms.
Alexandria officials drafted the cab ordinance to ensure the city’s taxis were serving Alexandria residents and not just Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport customers, Culpepper said, and also to ensure that independent cab drivers benefited from working for a cab company.
“One of the issues that the drivers brought up repeatedly when the city was revising the code was: What do we get from these companies for the dues that we pay them?” he said. “In a number of cases it was nothing, exceptfor the privilege of using their colors.”
VIP Cab owner Zari Karimian said most of her drivers’ business comes from the airport, but a good portion also comes from on-street pickups and cab stations in Alexandria, which the city doesn’t count toward the quota.
Dispatch calls are few and far between, she said.
“We have more than 700 taxis in Alexandria — we have way too many for this small city,” she said.
Street pickups and cab-stand trips account for 20 percent of the Alexandria taxicab market, or about 1,000 trips a day, according to city records. Dispatch calls make up 40 percent of the market, and many of the remaining 40 percent of trips are from the airport.
Of Alexandria’s seven certified cab companies, Columbus, King, VIP and Union failed to meet the city’s dispatch quota. City rules allow Union additional time because it is a new company.
“Two calls a day is a pretty minimal amount if you look at it from a driver’s perspective,” Culpepper said. “We’re asking the company to do their marketing and develop their customer base to give these drivers some business.”
Alexandria will continue to allow 721 taxis in the city regardless of whether the companies lose their certification. Drivers will be allowed to move to different companies, Culpepper said.
