SAN ANTONIO – As independent taxi drivers in San Antonio fight to stay alive in today’s world of technology and rideshare competition, they’re hoping the city steps in to help them stay traditional in their service to residents.
Linda Thomas owns her own taxi service called ALRT Taxi.
She said sometimes it can take all day before she gets a customer.
“We sit here sometimes for four to 10 hours,” Thomas said. “Sometimes longer. And the revenue we are getting from the few rides we get, we are not prospering at all. Just a day or two ago, nobody got in. I went home mad as all get out, disgusted and upset, wanting to know what can be done!”
One issue that is devastating the industry is the rising cost of living.
Under the current regulations of the City of San Antonio, rates are set at $2.70 per mile with a drop charge of $3.50.
It is something that she and other taxi drivers agree is too low in today’s economy.
“Our insurances have gone up almost 30%, and our rates have stayed the same,” said Mike Nazir, an independent taxi driver of 12 years. “The cost of living has gone up. Rides are few. So, we are fighting to survive in this industry.”
Nazir said when taxis were thriving, there were about 900 taxis in the city.
Now, he says, there are only 220.
Thomas added that the lack of awareness that they are still around is hurting their career.
“When Yellow Cab went bankrupt, they think all the taxis are gone,” Thomas said. “They don’t see us. If we are not visible, they don’t know. There is text of the names and numbers on the car, but we are not sprinkled around the city for people to know that.”
“Another problem is that we have no cab stand at the convention center. When we try to be there, they come after us, sometimes it’s police, saying we can park in certain areas.”
At this time, most of the independent taxis pay to park in a lot across from the airport and wait to be called over a loudspeaker to go to the terminals to pick up passengers.
They are hoping to create a proposal with the city to raise their rates, but Thomas said they are also trying to see how they can get a grant.
“That will help us maintain vehicle and put food on table,” she said. “Business has gone down a bit. Some days I don’t even have money for gas so I have to stay still somewhere where I can’t even make money.”
They said they know Uber and Lyft are options, but they’d rather keep it traditional.
“Cabs are needed in this city,” Nazir said. “Some people have been driving for 40 years. This is their livelihood. We want to work with the city because we are just trying to survive.
We’ll be following through with this story in hopes that once the proposal is complete, they can go before City Council in the next few months.