Travelers arriving at Reagan National Airport now have a new option when hailing a cab.
Alexandria Union Cab Co. opened for business on the first of February, breaking a monopoly held by Yellow and Diamond Cab Cos., both of which are owned by the same person. Unlike Yellow and Diamond, Union Cab is owned and operated by drivers.
“Alexandria’s taxi monopoly has been broken,” said Syed Hussain, a driver and president of the company. “We’re proud owners of our own company.”
The idea of the company started after the 2001 Reagan shutdown.
“They were completely out of income,” said Jon Liss, executive director of the Tenants and Workers United, the group that helped the drivers organize. “We started having a conversation about the problem, and together with the drivers we developed an analysis” on how drivers could start their own firm. Neither Yellow or Diamond cab companies returned phone calls.
This was done by changing Alexandria law. In the 1980s, due to an influx of immigrant cab drivers, Alexandria enacted a law requiring drivers have an affiliation with a company. The company in turn controlled the paperwork that allowed the cab to operate, while drivers had to pay for the actual car, operating expenses, and city fees.
Once Reagan reopened, cab drivers began working to change this law. In 2005, the Alexandria City Council passed a new taxi ordinance that allowed drivers to form a cooperative company. Union Cab was formed under the new law, and began operations this month.
“Cab drivers were bound to the company they were at,” Liss said. “This new company allows drivers to have a stake in their own company.”
