Despite concerns from individual taxicab drivers that a new policy will drive them out of business, the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport board approved an incentive program on Thursday that will let taxicabs that use compressed natural gas to jump to the front of the line.
This is the second time that airport officials have attempted to enforce the skip-to-the-head privilege for CNG-fueled taxicabs. The previous attempt in 2009 was halted by legal challenges from a group of taxicab drivers.
John Bryant, general counsel for the Association of Taxi Operators, said the group may file a lawsuit on Friday to try to halt the policy. The drivers say it costs them about $13,000 to convert their vehicles to operate on CNG.
“The airport board has voted to implement a policy that is unachievable for independent business owners,” said Bryant, adding that CNG-fueled cars could get 10 to 12 trips out of the airport each day while a regular cab may only get 2 to 3 trips with this new policy.
Of the 2,000 taxicabs licensed to operate at the airport, currently 137 use CNG. By offering an incentive to cab drivers to convert to CNG, the airport hopes to reduce emissions.
“All we’re trying to do is clean the air up,” said airport spokesman David Magaña, adding that the airport has had a clean air policy in place since 2000 and has over 600 CNG-fueled buses, trucks and cars in its fleet. “This policy does not put anybody out of business.”
There is no specific start date for the incentive program, Magaña said.
Several cab drivers appeared at Thursday’s board morning to ask members to vote against the proposed policy.
Jamal Ganamo, who drives for Ambassador Cab, told board members that he and fellow drivers are not opposed to CNG, but are opposed to how the airport is implementing the policy.
“CNG should be implemented in DFW like any other city but it should not be at the expense of the drivers,” Ganamo said at the meeting. “It should be at the expense of the government or the policy makers.”
Other cab drivers said the policy will make it harder for individual drivers and driver-owned cab companies like Alamo, Star and Ambassador to compete against the larger cab companies such as Yellow Cab which is able to make the investment in CNG for its cars.
“Technology changes are difficult anytime they misplace individuals and capital that is invested,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings in support of the policy. “It’s a challenge but I think we must understand why we’re doing this and that is to make sure we do our part in this region.”?
Article source: http://www.cngnow.com/News/Post.aspx?ID=558