Nevada taxi officials OK record number of new cabs
The Nevada Taxicab Authority 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 among the 16 companies operating in Clark County.
The order will allow 10 more 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.
It's the largest allocation of cabs in the regulatory agency'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 small companies backed it.
Awad told the authority board the new allocation will give companies the flexibility to operate a minimal number of cabs when demand is light, but increase the volume when demand is high.
This is a developing news story. Check back here for updates.
Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.
