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City wants to overhaul taxi industry
Richard Interlicchia has been driving a taxi for the last 18 years.
And for nearly that long, he's been on a lengthy waiting list to get a city hack plate, the special license that allows a person to own a cab in Rochester.
He can't get one because there are only 260 taxi plates available according to city law, and hardly anyone gives them up once they are lucky enough to obtain one.
So Interlicchia, 64, does what the majority of the city's 600 licensed cab drivers does, he rents a plate for $100 a month from one of those fortunate hack plate owners. Others pay as much as $150.
It's an unfair, 35-year-old system that leaves too much room for corruption and abuse of drivers, city officials say. And now, because of complaints from many cab drivers, the city plans to overhaul the local taxi industry.
City officials say the proposed changes, which include allowing an unlimited number of taxis in Rochester and increasing the annual fee from $75 to $500, will clean up the system, break up a monopoly and create small business opportunities for independent operators.
Most drivers and cab companies agree that the system needs to be reformed, and many support the city's plan. But others including some who want change are critical, saying it will flood an already saturated market with cabs, hurt established taxi companies and is simply a way to raise money for a cash-strapped city.
The potential impact on people who need taxis is unclear, although the city argues it may improve service.
City officials will hold two public hearings in council chambers at City Hall to talk about the changes. The first meeting is from 7 to 9 p.m. today and the second is 3 to 5 p.m. next Tuesday.
Council could vote on the proposal as early as March 23.
For the past year, city officials have been trying to figure out how to fix a system they created in 1967. That year, City Council, pushed by a strong taxi lobby, agreed to limit the number of taxi plates.
People paid an annual fee to buy a plate that they own basically until they die, said city Clerk Carolee Conklin.
Today, 11 people or companies control 57 of the city's hack plates.
Some owners even live out of state and simply collect rental fees from drivers, city officials and cabbies said.
City officials have questioned whether that income is being reported to the IRS.
The changes are needed because the current system gives too much power to hack plate owners, said Tamirat Tsige, 42, and Mehandis Ezezew, 44, two cab drivers who want hack plates and helped lobby the city to reform the system.
Drivers shouldn't have to rent plates from individuals who got them from the city, especially considering the high financial stakes the drivers have in their cabs, they said.
For example, cab drivers who rent hack plates say they pay the $75 annual city fee, a $40 meter inspection fee, their gas and their own car insurance (which can run more than $6,000 a year), in addition to paying between $100 and $150 each month to the owner of the hack plate.
That owner simply collects cash from the cab driver and has no expenses, they said.
The city needs a fairer system, said Councilman Wade Norwood, who supports the proposal.
The fellas that don't own their own plate are overjoyed because they are going to get a plate, finally, after years and years and years, said driver Jack Crosson, 56. These guys with extra plates, they've been sucking the blood out of these guys for these years.
Even some cab company owners aren't happy with the hack plate system.
We are at the mercy of the hack plate holders, said Alan Erway, 38, who operates several cab companies in the suburbs and has about 38 drivers working for him. He's been trying to get a city plate for eight years.
You have to bend over backwards for the people who own the hack plates, he said. It would be great for me because I won't have to kiss anybody's butt anymore.
But letting just anybody get a hack plate isn't the solution, either, because it will result in too many cabs in the city, Erway and others said. As an example, they point to the long lines of cabs that sit daily outside Midtown Plaza waiting for fares.
There's not enough work for the city cab drivers now, Crosson said. You're not going to make any more (money) to even pay your overhead.
But that may not happen.
Albany began allowing an unlimited number of taxis in its city last year after cab companies complained that they needed more. But the number of taxis dropped from 150 to 100 because of higher insurance costs and the fact that the city raised its annual fee to $500, said Albany Police Officer Curt Ricci.
Rochester has modeled its proposal after the Albany system.
Cab companies should have some control over the taxi operation in the city, critics said. They should be allowed to own multiple hack plates and rent them out to drivers, but not be required to pay for the insurance on each vehicle, Erway said.
Others said that instead of allowing more taxis, the city should allow someone to own just one hack plate. Still others recommended that the city and Monroe County combine its hack plate licenses.
Many called the city's proposal to increase the annual fee to $500 outrageous.
I know the city is broke and that's what they are doing it for, Interlicchia said.
For comparison, Buffalo charges $115 and has a limit of 375 taxis. Monroe County charges $60. The county has only 25 hack plates but also has about 350 corresponding plates, so city hack plate owners can operate in the county.
Conklin defended the proposed fee.
We think that's a fair cost to the city for administering the license, she said.
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