Taxi Operations Concerns 2 Councilmen

[lisas84]

Link:
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/0806/front_page/013.html

Unsafe operation of taxis concerns two councilmen

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer


FREEHOLD — Borough councilmen Marc Le Vine and George Schnurr were sending a message when they recently voted not to grant taxi driver's licenses to several individuals.

Their message was that something needs to be done about the complaints they have been hearing from residents about taxis in Freehold Borough.

The licenses, which will permit the individuals to be hired as drivers by taxi companies, were approved by the Borough Council in a 4-2 vote on July 21.

Voting to approve the licenses were council members Michael DiBenedetto, Sharon Shutzer, Jaye Sims and Kevin Kane.

Le Vine and Schnurr put their concerns on the record.

Schnurr said, "I have had numerous complaints from residents every week, from every part of town. They are concerned about speeding taxis, those that are making illegal turns, (disregarding) stop signs and making right turns on red when they should not be.

"The list goes on and on. Some may think I am being unfair to those drivers, but there comes a point when we have to say no to send a message to anyone who is not complying with taxi requirements," he said.

Schnurr said he will continue to vote no on the issuance of new taxi driver licenses until he "sees a change or hears something different."

Le Vine said some of the issues with the taxis are annoyances, such as blowing horns, but other concerns are more serious.

"I want to sit down and figure out how to go forward," he said. "This is not fair to our residents."

He said the serious concerns will not be tolerated by the council.

Shutzer said she agreed with Le Vine and Schnurr in regard to the need to look into the situation.

"But individually, are these taxi drivers bad?" Shutzer asked. "I don't know. All I know is that every single one of these drivers (up for a vote) was cleared by our police department. I cannot vote against someone looking for a job if I don't have the information that they are offenders. But I agree. We do need to do something about this situation."

"I don't think all taxi drivers are doing something wrong. Some take pride in their cabs and keep them clean," DiBenedetto said.

Le Vine said, "Some specific situations have already been turned over to the police department to investigate. We need to sit down as a council and discuss these important issues and get the police involved to work with us on issues that need to be addressed."

Schnurr said many residents are worried about motorists who speed through town. He said the speeding problem does not only involve taxi drivers.

"The speeding issue is a major public safety concern," the councilman said, adding that he is concerned about the safety of pedestrians on major thoroughfares and on side streets.

"In an effort to slow down traffic on some streets, I have asked that we consider the strategic placement of stop signs at intersections," Schnurr said. "I have also asked the police department to start writing more tickets for speeding."

Schnurr said he voted no on the taxi drivers' applications because he wanted to send a message to the taxi operators as well as to the owners that the status quo is no longer acceptable.

The borough authorizes a certain number of taxi cab companies to operate in town, but there is no limit to the number of people who may apply for a taxi driver's license and then seek employment with the authorized companies.

"I realize that on some level, voting no on applicants who actually did not do anything wrong themselves is not fair," the councilman said. "It is also not fair to our residents to have to endure taxi cab drivers and their owners who continually don't obey motor vehicle laws. When I have these two competing interests, I will always come down on the side of public safety.

"As far as the taxis are concerned, everything should be on the table, including cutting the number of medallion companies who may do business in the borough and possibly restricting the number of people who work as taxi drivers," Schnurr said.

He said municipal officials "will brainstorm the combination of effective traffic enforcement techniques to meet the needs of Freehold Borough residents now and in the future. They will report back to the entire governing body. In the meantime, I ask everyone to slow down and be considerate of the pedestrian traffic."

[misterpr1981]

I don't know how it would work, but I think the town should ban these cab companies from being based in the Boro (IF they are based in the town). You can't really ban cabs from traveling in Freehold, as people do need to use them, but I think they need to somehow get rid of them. THEY are one of the only things that DOES make the town look terrible. Who needs em?

Maybe an ordinance stating that only one cab company can exist in the boro? And then the town chooses the one that doesn't cause any problems, and sends the others packing.

[stffgpr2003]

Maybe an ordinance stating that only one cab company can exist in the boro? And then the town chooses the one that doesn't cause any problems, and sends the others packing.

Interesting concept, Steven. I'm not sure it would fly as it is, but the idea of granting a limited number of medallions that expire and need to be reviewed, annually, could move us in the right direction. We'll look into this.

The biggest problem in heavily limiting and over-regulating taxi cabs is that if they feel especially restricted, they may go off line and operate more gypsy cabs. When this happens, they are often hard to call out, as many of their customers will go as far as to tell police and inspectors that they are only family members and not paying customers. Gypsy cabs don't play by anyone's rules.

In today's Transcript article, I was deliberately non specific about the nature of current police investigations, so as not to tip off any of the alleged offenders. Why should they know what we are looking into and try to lay low to avoid being caught. And, why should other cab owners think that they can get away with doing wrong, without the fear of being watched. Let them remain a little nervous and think twice about what they may be doing wrong.

The items that George and I mentioned in the newspaper article were definitely important (speeding, QofL complaints), but they may only be the tip of iceberg with regard to potential abuses. Butterfly hunting is fine, but we're loaded for bear.

I am sure there will be much more on this topic in the coming days. I've spoken to the authorities in New Brunswick, Elizabeth and Long Branch about their own situations. I am learning alot about the kind of games being played by some taxi cab owners and what these towns are doing about it - or trying to do.

All those I've spoken too admit it is a very difficult thing to address and it requires lots of close monitoring. The full council will address this at the next workshop. Our professionals are pulling information together to aid us in the discussion.

Marc