Would This Solve Taxi Long-Hauling?

In every city, there are "flat rates" from point A to point B. Like car service from your home to the airport. Like Atlantic City- I've heard there is a flat rate from airport to the casino area.

Perhaps the Vegas Taxi Authority can issue flat-rates to south, north and mid-strip, even outlying hotels.

While it would piss off some cabbies (or cab company owners), it would be beneficial to travelers.

Would this solve the long-hauling issue in Vegas?

 

I know they have considered flat rates from McCarran to Strip hotels, but it does not look like it will happen.

 

Sadly I suspect that most cabbies would be in favor of such an idea, its the owners of the cab companies who would stand to lose the most. If you take away the burden put on the cabbies by their bosses to squeeze every passenger for every nickle, their attitudes and tips would probably go up, possibly significantly. Long hauling on the meter doesn't really help the cabbie as much as the owners, and the ill will it garners makes it a no-win situation for most of the cab drivers.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this, I'm not in any way a cabbie nor have I played one on TV.

 

i know a guy who owns a cab company in my town. the owner just gets a cut from each driver. the majority of the fare goes directly to the cabbie's pocket. so they are the ones that gain the most from long hauling, not the owners.

 

I thought it was different in Vegas, in that cabbies get to get 40% of all fares and that's it?

 

Yeah, I thought the companies got a lot more of the $$ in Vegas too.

New Orleans has flat rates from airport to CBD or French Quarter, some meter rates too. I LOVE the flat rate from airport to hotel - AND it's posted in the cab window where you can easily read it, AND the cab stand at the airport gives you a piece of paper WITH the cab number on it before you enter the cab. In case you have any problems. New Orleans is clearly focused on tourist comfort & safety in this respect!

 

My brother-in-law is a private car service driver in New York City so I know something about how all this works, at least in NY. I would assume it is a similar situation in Nevada.

I think it is incorrect to say that the owners are pressuring cabbies to long-haul. That is not how it really works. With a private car service, the driver can either own their own vehicle or rent from another owner or from the company.

A taxi is a different story - the driver just "rents" the taxi upfront for the day from the company and is responsible for gas and other expenses. I tried to look up how the system in Vegas works and found something that said the drivers share revenue with the cab company in addition to getting a small hourly wage. They still have to rent the vehicle and pay for insurance, their taxi license etc and that can be an extremely costly expense.

It is the cabbies who are deciding they are going to try and rip people off. They make that decision all on their own. The reason they long-haul is that the more fares they have the more tips they get and that is where their main income is generated. There is a lot of competition in Vegas, but I doubt that any of the major cab services actually encourage drivers to squeeze customers dry. Do I think they are being strict enough with their drivers? No. Of course they know it is going on. But the owners always get their pound of flesh regardless.

 

To answer the question: yes, I believe that flat rates would, indeed, reduce or eliminate long hauling. In fact, many folks might be inclined to use cabs more frequently if the fare is known in advance, while eliminating the anxiety and likelihood of being screwed. I know I'd be more willing to use them in lieu of shuttles or city buses if going from A to B no longer represented a possible confrontation. Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if the cab companies ended up making more money, while of course, improving a long overdue transportation service.

 

Exactly. That is a big reason a lot of folks don't use cabs, fear of how badly they will be screwed over or the confrontation it creates.

 

Would it solve long hauling? Yes.

But it can only solve the problem if it is instituted, and you'll need the right people pushing for it to happen.

 

I think one way to solve part of the airport transportation issue would be to have them get off of their @$$es and extend the Monorail a few hundred yards to the airport!

 

It would work for the hotels serviced by the monorail but who wants to drag their luggage down an escalator, through a long hotel lobby from the very back to the front and then try to navigate through massive crowds on Las Vegas Boulevard with all that baggage while trying to find a crossing or a walkway to get to your own hotel.

It wouldn't be a viable option for hotels on the opposite side of the strip - people would be completely exhausted before they even reached the front check-in desk!

 

I'm starting to be one of the opinion that if you put yourself in the position to be taken advantage of, you deserve it. Now, do I think these scumbags taking advantage of tourists is OK? No, but I also understand that the world is a cruel place. I'm also happy with the fact that every time a stupid cabbie tries this on me, it means I get a free ride from the airport to the hotel. Moral of the story is to know your way around a little (use google maps), don't be afraid to dial the taxicab authority and don't be afraid of a little confrontation. You won't be taken advantage of, and you may even get a free ride from a scumbag who ends up picking up the tab...

 

Pardon me for being somewhat naive, but how, exactly, do you legally parlay an attempted long-haul into a free ride?

 

After I learned what being long hauled meant, I decided to take a stand. I had been taken the long route to Treasure Island the first time I ever visited Vegas over ten years ago, and another time my girlfriend got long hauled when meeting me at Caesar's after a conference and it really pissed me off to know we'd been taken advantage of.

I'm not sure if I'm breaking any laws, but this has worked every time. I basically give the scumbag cabbie a choice. I tell them I understand I've been taken the long route, and they can either let me have a free ride or stick around to let the taxicab authority decide what I should pay. The taxicab authority would probably make me pay the appropriate fair minus the long haul, but they would also make cabbie pay a large fine and possibly suspend their license. The cabbie may put up a little resistance, but stand your ground and make them understand you are well-informed about the multiple routes available (not including the freeway) and that you are serious about calling the taxicab authority, and they will let you go. I can almost guarantee it. Just don't be afraid to stand your ground...

 

Back to the OP for a sec, there is one unusual component of Vegas cab trips that is unlike any city I can think of in North America. The trip time (vs. trip distance) varies significantly as a percentage of the total fare.

In most cities, waiting time is a small percentage of a fare, even in bad traffic. A metered $35 LGA-Manhattan fare might have from $0 - $8 in waiting time - less than 25% of the overall fare. The trip is long enough, the waiting is rarely more than 20 minutes in even the worst traffic (20 minutes = 4 miles of fare in NYC), that the flat fare concept cannot significantly penalize the driver for sitting in traffic. The JFK-Manhattan zone fare is an even longer (distance) trip.

Las Vegas combines a very short trip (4 miles from the north end of the strip - at DFW you can't even leave the airport in 4 miles!) with extremely variable traffic levels. It would be quite possible on busy nights for a waiting time fare of 14 minutes to match the distance portion of the fare to, say, Monte Carlo.

So when setting this zone fare, how much do you add for anticipated waiting time? Will "smart" people constantly ask for the meter in the morning knowing that traffic is light? What % of people will reject the zone fare and ask for a "tour of the Strip" or "quickest route"? Will these factors cause drivers and companies enough grief with the unmetered fares, without improving customer satisfaction sufficiently, that the benefits don't outweigh the drawbacks?

(BTW: I don't buy any of this argument - the Monte Carlo example has 30% of the fare as the drop charge; 35% waiting and 35% distance. So you can set a reasonable zone fare IMO. And a zone system doesn't require a passenger to use it. But it is something to consider when advocating for zone fares.)

As for avoiding payment for the tunnel, just remember one number:

(Courtesy State of Nevada Taxi Authority) Please be reasonable if your driver has been - pay a fair amount (w/o tip) for your trip. The driver is going to have to explain why he accepted less than the meter (or eat 150% of the loss and not report it to his company).