Skip to main contentAngry limo drivers have teamed up to try to flatten city regulations they say give rival cab drivers an unfair advantage in the race for riders.
The Portland City Council voted Dec. 11 to impose a $45 minimum price for town-car operators carrying passengers between Portland International Airport and the downtown area. That would push town-car fares 50 percent above a taxi fare for the same route. (See The Nose, WW, Dec. 10, 2003.)
After the council vote, drivers formed the Oregon Limousine and Livery Association to oppose the new rules. Association president John V. Sinibaldi, who runs Carey Five-Star Limousine Service, says the group represents 25 town-car, limousine and shuttle owners who operate a combined 100 vehicles and boast 275 employees.
He says the conflicts with cabbies, and the city's need to protect them, stem from a glut of taxis.
The limo operators' first goal is to boot a drivers' rep off the for-hire transportation board. In a letter to city officials, Sinibaldi says Brandon Sofge is not looking out for town-car drivers' interests.
Sinibaldi says his colleagues also will work to protect agreements town cars have with airlines and hotels, arrangements which cabbies say hurts taxi business.
Finally, lawyers representing the limo group are preparing a challenge to the minimum fee imposed on airport runs. "We're not going to get steamrolled," Sinibaldi says. "We are going to be pushing this and most likely will go to the courts."
WWeek 2015