More taxi permits OK’d for Electric Daisy Carnival

It shouldn't be hard to get a ride to the Electric Daisy Carnival next month as Las Vegas cab companies will field as many as 140 additional taxis for the busy weekend.

The Taxicab Authority on Tuesday approved 10 additional medallions for cab companies to serve the techno-music EDC, which is expected to draw more than 100,000 festival-goers a day during its three-day run June 8-10 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The four-member board unanimously voted to allow five more medallions from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. each day, and five more from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. for any 12-hour period.

That second weekend in June will be busier still with Manny Pacquiao's championship fight against Tim Bradley at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Not all 16 cab companies will use the extra medallions, said Brock Croy, management analyst for the Taxicab Authority. About 150 cabs are geographically restricted from picking up people from the Strip, McCarran International Airport or downtown. They can only drop off there.

The taxicab industry has 1,376 medallions for 24-hour, seven-day service, with 417 added for peak service from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m and another 272 from Thursday through Monday, Croy said.

Will Hanzel, operations coordinator at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said EDC is bigger than NASCAR in daily attendance. Attendance at last year's inaugural festival was estimated at 75,000 to 85,000 a day, capped at 100,000, he said.

At last check with Insomniac, the Los Angeles-based promoter of Electric Daisy Carnival, somewhere between 102,000 and 105,000 tickets had been sold, and the cap was raised to 115,000, Hanzel said.

Frias Transportation, operator of five taxi companies, tallied 2,800 rides to the speedway for the carnival last year, about 930 round-trips a day, Hanzel reported. With a projected 40 percent increase in attendance, he's estimating 1,320 round-trips this year.

"One thing we did have a problem with last year, we found taxis were going wherever they wanted. They were not restricted, and we're going to change that this year," he said.

Taxis will be allowed to enter the speedway from either Interstate 15 or Las Vegas Boulevard at the beginning of the night, when the carnival starts. But after 2 a.m., Las Vegas Boulevard won't be accessible to inbound traffic, which is similar to traffic restrictions during a NASCAR race, Hanzel said.

Unlike past meetings where drivers opposed event-driven temporary medallions, Tuesday's decision drew little opposition. Most of those who spoke during the public comment period agreed that more taxis will be needed for the Electric Daisy Carnival. When they would be needed was a little less clear.

The event starts at 8 p.m. each day and ends at 7 a.m. It's a very gradual arrival and departure, with headline acts coming on about 2 a.m., Hanzel said. It winds down after about 4 a.m.

George Balaban, owner of Desert Cab, said his drivers are going to miss 15 rides on the Strip if they take someone to the speedway about 10 p.m. At 4 a.m., it's dead.

"There's going to be a window for turning down rides going out. It's not a problem bringing them back," Balaban said. "There's no guarantee you can make them go out there."

He suggested overlapping shifts so that all 10 medallions would be out for the peak hours of 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., then cutting back to five for the rest of the show.