Rick Hewatt, CEO of Atlanta Checker Cab Co., is frustrated. He says his business is down 25 to 30 percent over the last year. Idle cabs sit on his lot near Northside Drive. He’s fighting to find eligible drivers in a depleted talent pool. Checker still receives just under 2,000 calls a day, but it was 3,000 not too long ago. It looks like he won’t turn a profit this year.
Much of this misery, he attributes to the emerging popularity of Uber, the app-driven, ride-hailing car service company that’s putting a large dent in the taxi cab industry by digitally connecting passengers and drivers. (Lyft, an Uber competitor identified by its pink mustache logo, adds to cabbies’ woes.)
Hewatt says traditional, regulated taxi companies, many of them mom-and-pop operations, have an uphill battle against the likes of deep-pocketed Uber. The latter has branded itself as a technology company and it’s fought the notion that it’s basically a cab service that must play by those rules of the road. (Earlier this year, the New York Times reported Uber’s value at $41.2 billion.)
Hewatt blames Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the city council for dragging their feet on easing cab regulations and turning a blind eye to Uber crashing the urban transportation party, partly because of its hip cachet with Millenials and technology workers so coveted by the mayor.
Adding to taxi company concerns, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials say they will propose a plan to the city by Sept. 1 to allow ride-hailing services to pick up passengers at the airport, something that’s currently illegal (although drop-offs are allowed).
Hewatt scoffs at the assertion that Uber drivers are not picking up fares at the airport in their personal cars. “ “We have proof that they are training their drivers to avoid the police at the airport,” he says. “They’re instructing their drivers not to have their cellphones out, to put the passengers in the front right seat. They’re training their drivers to break the law, basically. The airport has ticketed some drivers, but they’re limited in enforcement and what their resources are.”
The taxi industry got some relief this year when the state legislature passed House Bill 225, which requires companies like Uber and Lyft to pay taxes and hold commercial insurance for their drivers. It also prohibits them from “staging” cars — creating a line of waiting vehicles at a curbside or loading area.
The new law levels the playing field a bit for cabs, but not enough for Hewatt’s taste.
“They’re still staging cars,” he says. He singles out a local concert amphitheater. “They’ve given them spaces to stage and the law specifically says they can’t. Look at the strip mall across from Johnny’s Hideaway on Roswell Road on Saturday night. Look at the cellphone lot at the airport. There’s a lot of places where they’re staging, like taxi cabs, trying to get as close to where the business is as possible so they can get a fare there.”
Cabs have not been allowed to “surge price” like Uber. Their set fares are the same 24/7.
When it comes to response time, taxi cab fleets are greatly outnumbered. Hewatt says there are about 1,600 cab permits in the Atlanta area; Checker has 140. On the other hand, he estimates Uber operates about 5,000 vehicles in the same footprint. (Uber does not release such information.) Unless a cab stand is nearby, a taxi dispatcher typically cannot get a car to its customers as fast as them.
An added reason to protect cab companies, Hewatt says, is that the cashless, ride-hailing services cannot serve lower-income customers, many of whom do not have the necessary smartphones or a credit card account.
“They don’t service everybody like taxi cabs and limousines. If you don’t have a smartphone — and a lot of people don’t — you can’t order an Uber. If you don’t have a credit card, you can’t order an Uber. We have handicapped-accessible vehicles. If somebody in a wheelchair needs transportation, we can provide it. Uber can’t.”
Checker cab is facing the fight. It has invested over $800,000 in upgrading its fleet in recent years. And of the 18 drivers it has lost to Uber, Hewat says 9 have returned. He’s also thinking about discounting fares to match the competition.
“They’re trying to put the last nail in our coffin. But I got news for them, when Uber is a fond memory in this town, there will still be taxi cabs, and especially Atlanta Checker Cab. We’re not going anywhere.”
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