Officials approve record number of cabs for Las Vegas

The Nevada Taxicab Authority board on Thursday approved an unprecedented allocation of new cabs, a move that will likely raise the ire of cab drivers who already believe there are too many of them on the road.

The five-member board unanimously approved 30 cabs per company — 480 between the 16 companies operating in Clark County.

The order will allow 10 new cabs on Dec. 15, 10 on Jan. 15 and 10 more on Feb. 15. One of the 10 additional cabs in each group of new cabs is required to be able to transport disabled passengers.

With allocations already approved earlier this year, the industry will have 1,611 more medallions on the street than it had at the same time a year ago.

It's the largest allocation of cabs in the regulatory board's history. The request was made as a competitive move against transportation network companies that are believed to have thousands of vehicles and contracted drivers in their fleets.

The industry was split in its support of the proposal, brought to the authority by Jason Awad, head of Lucky Cab Co. The two largest cab company groups, Frias Transportation and Yellow Checker Star, opposed the allocation while Bell Transportation and most of the county's small companies backed it. The two unions representing drivers also opposed the allocation.

Awad told the authority board the new allocation would give companies the flexibility to operate a minimal number of cabs when demand is light, but increase the volume when demand is high.

He likened the plan to resorts that build hotels with as many rooms as possible to accommodate dates when the city is packed with tourists or conventioneers or casino floor managers who have an overabundance of blackjack tables to be able to open them on busy weekends.

Opponents of the proposal said the first new allocation would hit right around the time there would be fewer tourists in town and make it even more difficult for drivers to make a good wage just before the holidays.

Bill Shranko of Yellow Checker Star said the move also would be devastating to cab companies' driver recruitment efforts because drivers would consider driving for a ride-hailing company such as Uber or Lyft instead of driving a cab. He urged the board to research the impact of its recent allocation of 10 new cabs on Nov. 1 before adding more vehicles.

John Marushok, general manager of Frias, said there hasn't been enough data collected to make a good decision on the impact of additional allocations.

And union steward Sam Moffitt of the Industrial, Technical and Professional Employees Union Local 4873 said drivers would have no choice but to illegally long-haul customers to generate the revenue expected by their taxi company bosses.

In the end, the authority board agreed that its primary mission is to provide good service to the riding public and, after hearing complaints about long cab lines during this month's Specialty Equipment Market Association automotive trade show, it was decided the best way to provide better service was to add cabs.

Board chairwoman Ileana Drobkin added that with the expansion of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center completed and the new MGM arena west of New York-New York nearing completion, it was best to add vehicles to better serve the riding public.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.