Airport business brings record month for taxicabs

For cab driver Mamerto Mercado Jr., October fell into a rhythm that has been all too rare during Las Vegas' economic struggles.

With passenger counts rising at McCarran International Airport, particularly for people attending conventions, "It was drop, pickup, drop, pickup," Mercado said as he waited in line at the airport on Tuesday. "That's the way I like it."

The numbers bore out what he witnessed. During October, 322,322 cabs picked up people to take them somewhere in town, the busiest month ever at the airport. The total marked a 10.5 percent gain from one year ago and was 21 percent more than the same month in recession-racked 2008, according to records by the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority; in only three other months since 2007 has the total even reached 300,000.

The taxi industry generally started to emerge from its slump in 2010 and has shown growth this year in every category the authority measures. In particular, the 20.8 million trips was up 7.5 percent in the nine months through September and, aided by fare increases to cover higher gasoline bills, revenues rose 11.9 percent to $291.3 million.

Beyond the generally improving market, industry insiders offered a range of explanations for the jump in airport business.

"I would like to believe that the taxicab industry is doing a good job and people are riding with us instead of other services," said John Hickman, chief operating officer of Frias Transportation Management, the holding company for five of the valley's 16 cab brands. "But I don't know that I can prove it."

According to McCarran management, there is validity to Hickman's view. Its numbers show that ridership of the cab's main competition, limousines and shuttle services that charge a flat rate, has remained flat this year.

That taxi ridership has risen faster than the 4.5 percent increase in annual passenger numbers at McCarran "not only reflects an increasing amount of arriving travelers, but changes in the ground transportation preferences of many who arrive at McCarran," Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said in a statement.

Airport management is evaluating new proposals from limo and shuttle companies with the intent of cutting the number allowed to serve the airport from six to four.

Cab company owners have been concerned in recent years that they were losing ground as others cut their rates. One company even hired a private eye to see whether limo drivers were picking up passengers that legally should have gone in cabs. And, cab owners almost unanimously opposed a rate increase in September for fear of losing business.

But limo companies have anecdotally reported that their business is increasing elsewhere, lessening the need to discount.

A-Cab owner Joe Nady said the industry is feeling the updraft from the authority's August vote to issue more medallions during weekends and to extend the hours a weekend medallion can be used.

"In my opinion, we now have better service because we have more cabs available on the busiest days," he said.

Medallions, controlled by the authority, act as permits that limit the number of cabs on the streets at any given time. Authority statistics show the biggest year-over-year gains at McCarran came on weekends.

However, the authority also said cabs saw similar increases in airport trips in the months before the new medallions were issued.

Drivers themselves have noticed not only an uptick in attendance for big conventions, such as last week's giant Specialty Equipment Market Association, but also for smaller meetings and seminars.

"We are seeing a lot of convention traffic," said driver Eshete Woldgeorgies. "It's a sign that things are getting better than last year."

But like Mercado, he said that his income still lags what it was four years ago, when visitors spent more freely and there were fewer medallions in circulation. Before this year, no new permanent medallions had been issued since 2007.

"It's a little better," Woldgeorgies said, "but not like it used to be."

For drivers, the typically slow November and December could bite even more because of the new medallions, predicted T. Ruthie Jones, a representative of the Industrial Technical Professional Employees Union, one of two that represent Las Vegas cab drivers.

The union had opposed the medallions out of concern about diluting driver income. Drivers are typically paid on a revenue-sharing basis.

"The rest of the year looks like it's going to be dead for the drivers," Jones said. "I have a feeling it will be slim pickins."

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.