Sacramento imposes moratorium on new taxi permits
In some cities, it's a challenge to hail a cab, but in Sacramento, it's the cabdrivers who are scrambling for customers.
Saying time is needed to develop new rules limiting the number of cabs in Sacramento, the City Council this week adopted a two-year moratorium on new taxicab permits.
Kazman Zaidi, vice president of the Sacramento Taxicab Association, hailed the decision, saying Sacramento isn't large enough to support the approximately 500 cabs currently operating in the city.
"We're not San Francisco, we're not Los Angeles," he said in an interview. "Five hundred cabs is too many."
Because of the proliferation of cabs, the average taxi driver in Sacramento makes about $50 a day, Zaidi said.
In a video recording of Thursday's council meeting, Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said she brought the matter forward because city staff members need time to study how to better regulate taxicab operations.
Currently, cabdrivers sit parked for long periods waiting for fares because there aren't enough customers to support the existing number taxis on the street, she said.
Councilman Jay Schenirer opposed the moratorium. "I think it is a market issue … We've got a lot of restaurants going out of business," he said. "Should we also put a moratorium on the number of restaurants?"
Councilman Steve Cohn argued, however, that "you can't have a deregulated cab market."
Because of poor service, he said, the city established regulations in 2006. "We still don't have it right, but at least we're getting better as far as quality," Cohn said.
In addition to regulations that would limit the number of permitted taxicab vehicles, city staff members said they will consider measures to reduce the environmental impacts, such as requiring a certain ratio of permitted taxis to have electric or hybrid power trains.
Harjit Aujla, a representative of the Smart Cab Association, said association members support the moratorium and a cap on the number of taxi vehicles permitted in the city.
He said they were less enthusiastic about the potential for stiffer environmental requirements.
Newer fleets with lower emissions would be a good thing, he said, "but it would be very expensive for the downtown people," Aujla said. "We're not making that much."
If cabdrivers were able to earn more, they could put more money into improved vehicles, Zaidi said. He also suggested that city officials, in updating regulations, explore grant programs that might help cab operators purchase lower-emission vehicles.
The moratorium becomes effective in 30 days.
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