Southern Nevada taxi drivers made their case for reducing the number of cabs on valley streets in a new venue. And they got a familiar answer: No.
The Nevada Transportation Authority rejected an appeal Thursday from two unions of last year’s Nevada Taxicab Authority approval of permanent cab allocations.
The three-member Transportation Authority, which hears appeals of Taxicab Authority rulings, voted 3-0 to reject the appeal, based on its determination that the allocation request process was not flawed.
Transportation Authority Chairman Andrew MacKay said before the vote that the board was bound by statute to consider whether there were errors in the process and not whether the Taxicab Authority’s decision was wrong.
The vote came after 75 minutes of public comments, mostly by drivers pleading with the board to throw out the Taxicab Authority’s decision in August to add six cabs per company — one a month from September through February — and to expand the hours of some time-restricted cabs.
Representatives of Industrial Technical Professional Employees Local 4873 and United Steelworkers Local 711-A have not determined whether they would appeal the Transportation Authority’s ruling. The next step would be to file suit in District Court.
Tick Segerblom, a lawyer representing the unions in the hearing, said the Taxicab Authority produced no evidence in support of approving what amounted to a 20 percent increase in the number of cabs authorized for operation.
“It was clearly erroneous and not supported by any evidence,” Segerblom told board members.
But Scott Davis of the Nevada attorney general’s office, representing the Taxicab Authority, said the board approved a discretionary act that it was empowered to consider.
Once board members took up the debate, it took less than 10 minutes to reach a decision. Commissioners Monica Metz and Michael Kloberdanz echoed that they were bound to reviewing evidence and could not be swayed by their personal feelings about cab allocations and how they affect drivers.
During public comment, 27 cabdrivers spoke about how they had a hard time making a living as a result of the Taxicab Authority’s decision.
One driver pleaded for the board “to right a grave injustice,” while another said he collected more money in government unemployment benefits than he did while on the job driving a cab.
The drivers’ comments echoed a familiar refrain they’ve made at Taxicab Authority meetings when that board has taken up requests for temporary allocations whenever large conventions or special events come to town.
Earlier this month, however, the Taxicab Authority rejected a request for additional cabs for the National Association of Broadcasters convention, which wrapped up Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The authority cited the approval of the permanent cabs in August as one of the reasons it didn’t support more cabs for NAB.
The issue may be revisited again at the next Taxicab Authority meeting when cab companies are expected to request additional cabs for the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival, June 8-10 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.