This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Yellow Cab company has filed a lawsuit seeking to delay Salt Lake City International Airport from implementing new taxi services until legal challenges on the fairness of the bidding process can be heard.
Don Barron, owner of Yellow Cab, says the new contracts will put his firm and two other longtime Salt Lake City cab companies out of business, throwing hundreds of drivers out of work.
A hearing on the issue is set for 9 a.m. on Friday before 3rd District Judge Kate Toomey.
The suit against Salt Lake City claims that airport officials went against the advice of their staff in awarding contracts to two out-of-state companies before Yellow Cab's complaints could be heard. A municipal hearing on the protest was scheduled for Nov. 3.
"I don't think the city or the mayor should be putting people out of work," said Barron. "That's not what we elected them to do."
City Councilman J.T. Martin said he could not comment on the suit, but added he was "disappointed that up to now, no local company made it through the bidding process."
Spokeswoman Barbara Gann said airport executive director Maureen Riley had no comment on the lawsuit, and the Mayor's Office did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
The lawsuit also questions the legality of requiring all city residents to pay for special airport fees charged under the new system. The concessions fees, to be paid by the new companies, total $225,000 annually for a 100-fleet concessionaire, whether the cab takes riders to the airport.
Those airport fees were never debated publicly, and, with other mandated cab upgrades, could raise fares for all residents by as much as 40 percent, said Yellow Cab attorney Don Winder.
Although Yellow Cab protested the legality of the new airport fees, the company submitted a bid for service, which was rejected.
This week, airport officials announced they had awarded contracts to Cleveland-based Ace Taxi Service and Total Transit, headquartered in Glendale, Ariz. The new contracts mean the companies' taxis will be the only ones allowed to queue up to transport passengers from the airport or to pick up passengers anywhere in the city on demand, meaning no prior arrangements need be made.
Restructuring ground transportation began in 2005, when the City Council passed a resolution stating its intent to modify how the taxi industry would operate in the city.
In 2006, the City Council voted to terminate its longtime permits, called certificates of convenience, with Yellow, Utah and City Cab companies, according to the lawsuit. Despite business uncertainties, the cab companies continued to provide services for the six years until officials from the airport, who in the meantime were charged with administering services, announced earlier this week they would terminate the relationship with the firms Nov. 28.
Five companies submitted bids, which Gann said were ranked in order of acceptability — Ace Taxi, Total Transit, Veolia Transportation, Yellow Cab and Ute Cab. Veolia bills itself as the largest private provider of multiple modes of transportation in North America.
Proposals to provide services were ranked by a seven-member panel, based on quality of vehicles, driver programs, operational plans, experience, fees, financial performance and references, Gann has said.
The panel was made up of David Korzep, superintendent of airport operations; airport finance director Janine Christiansen; Steve Marlovits, airport police chief; Mary Guy-Sell, mobility manager, Wasatch Front Regional Council; Tom Ward, deputy director of Salt Lake City's Public Utilities; Joe Lambert, general manager of Squatters, an airport tenant; and Allen McCandless, airport director of planning and environment.
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Taxicab dispute
Yellow Cab filed a 3rd District Court lawsuit against Salt Lake City, asking for:
A state judge to delay two out-of-state firms from beginning taxi service at the airport Nov. 28.
More time so the judge can determine whether the airport's bidding process was fair and lawful.
The city's three cab firms to continue services at existing fares until complaints are heard.