summer tourism season picks up, but downtown still can’t hail a cab
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As Los Angeles enters the traditional summer tourism season, Downtown is a much different place from years past, with new restaurants and cultural institutions opening up.
Still, some visitors may continue to be left standing on the curb wondering why they can’t catch a cab.
The so-called Hail-a-Taxi initiative was widely reported on back in May when the city’s Taxi Cab Commission approved a pilot program to allow taxi cabs to pick up passengers in Downtown Los Angeles regardless of the curbside parking designation. Currently cabs are only allowed to pick up passengers in designated taxi areas and in legal parking spots.
Though the anticipated implementation date was July 1st, Councilwoman Jan Perry tells us that the Hail-a-Taxi proposal is still in committee. The proposal should be scheduled for a vote before the City Council within the next few weeks, but no date has been set.
It’s imperative the plan is enacted before the end of summer. As local businesses seek to grab a larger share of the 25.4 million tourists Los Angeles hosted in 2006 (the last year for which data is available), the city should be doing all it can to ease travel options to and from our diverse cultural, dining and architectural offerings. Since tourism accounted for an estimated $13 billion in local revenue last year, we simply can’t afford not to.
Have any thoughts on the plan? Let us know in the comments!
-hail-a-taxi gets a go, downtown to be test subject (angelenic)
-Taxi Cab Commission Approves Hail-a-Taxi Initiative (Curbed LA)
-LAT: Cabbies Want You to Hail a Cab (blogdowntown)
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8 comments
I am SO tired of not being able to hail a cab in LA. Cab drivers always get upset when I ask them to take me from Bunker Hill to South Park. And although illegal, some have flat out refused the ride. Granted, it’s a short distance and I always walk it during the day, but after midnight I’d prefer not to walk it alone. They complain that they will have to wait in another cab line for another (and they assume higher fare) customer, but not everyone in downtown is headed to LAX! Sucks balls.
No kidding. I don’t understand why my fare to the coliseum from south park was only $8, but the return trip was $15?! Can cabbies tweak their meters or something? I was annoyed.
Coming from a city where cabs were king (Chicago) to a place where cabs just hang out is quite a change.
It’s disappointing to hear the law has not passed, and that it appears to be moving at a snails pace. Is this normal for LA politics? I am beginning to think this is the attitude politicians have towards downtown.
Cabs shouldn’t be refusing service, no matter how short the trip.
It always kills me to see 8-10 cabs lined up at 7th and Fig our outside the Sheraton with all the cabbies hanging outside talking to one another.
yeah, they get pissed when you ask them to take you to union station for the fly away, too. they need to pass this thing so that they have incentive to make short trips.
re-DONK-ulous! I can’t believe it is taking so long to get this initiative passed.
We NEED to be able to hail cabs like a normal city. This will propel nightlife Downtown even further. Ms. Perry’s committee needs to act and act now. Though I prefer to walk, I often end up at Pete’s Cafe but live in City West. If the Dash ran late, I’d take that but the next best thing would be to hail a cab. The politicians or anyone who blocks this, slows this down or can enable it to happen, should put their money where their mouth is when it comes to not drinking & driving. This is a simple fix, and whatever reason the law was enacted in the first place, if anyone can even remember, is far outdated.
We definetly need to be able to hail cabs. It would help make things more accessable and convenient. People will probably go out more locally and not have to worry about driving home after a few drinks. All us locals have been waiting too long already for this to happen. Its silly to have to go through all this b—- s—- to get something that will help the city on many levels.
As an Angeleno currently in NYC for holiday…….WE NEED CABS! Period.
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