Santa Rosa adopts rules for growing number of taxis

New Santa Rosa taxi rules and fees were welcomed by some drivers as bringing order to their chaotic business, while others viewed them as unnecessary burdens on drivers struggling to make a living.

Mayor Ernesto Olivares tried to reassure drivers who were concerned that the numerous new regulations -- ranging from where they can park to how clean their cabs are to how much insurance they carry – won't need to be aggressively enforcement by police.

"We can't afford, and we don't have, the taxi police to go out there playing 'I gotcha,' " Olivares said at Tuesday's council meeting. "We're going to get voluntary compliance with this."

The goal is to implement a set of rules that ensures the public is safe, operators are legitimate and the city recovers its costs, said Santa Rosa Police Lt. Jerry Soares.

The regulations are needed because the city in recent years has received an increasing number of complaints about "rogue" taxi drivers starting up businesses with little more than a car and a cellphone, according to the city.

"The public does need to be protected," said AC Taxi driver Mike Moriarty. "There are uninsured drivers out there, uninsured taxis out there, drivers are overcharging the public. There's all kind of stuff going on."

The ordinance, adopted Tuesday, requires drivers to get a permit and their cabs to pass inspections and establishes a network of taxi stands downtown to help people find cabs when they need one. Fees and fines are expected to cover the cost of administering the program.

As an example, a single cab driver making $50,000 in fares per year would need to pay about $1,600 in fees. Currently, a driver only needs a business license. A larger cab company with 10 cabs generating $300,000 in fares would face about $12,000 in fees, Soares said.

That seemed high to some drivers, but it's far lower than a draft proposed in March. At that point, the city was proposing to charge a franchise fee of 9 percent of a company's receipts.

The rules, which go into effect next year, will establish about 18 taxi stands in the downtown area, some located near local bars.

Robert Thomas of Sam's Taxi, said while he thought the fees were excessive compared to other cities, he was in favor of regulation of the industry.

"People need to know that are getting into a legit cab," he said.You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.