New-York tribune., 1909-07-17
TAXI DRIVERS OBJ ECT
CALL ORDINANCE BURDEN
Both Public and Pirate Operators
REGARD Ne7U Plan UnfdCOrabIy.

An inquiry yesterday among both public and prl-
vate taxicab operators brought out the fact that
both parties look with dsfavor on the city ordl-
which establishes the classes. with speclai
privileges for private cabs Both sides are agreed
that without the present system they could ofer
the public the same service. and ultimately more
extended o1e at d cheaper rate The only gamers
by the present plan, they say, are the totelS ana
restaurants. which must give their cogsen' at
a price 10 the establishment OF private cab stands
at their doors.
This state of affairs was explained by two men.
one representing the independent public cabmen'
and the other of the private taXicab com
panes. George 4. Hobert, attorney for an asso-
citation Of cab drivers has just obtained Judlcial
order for the New York Taxicab Company to sho"
cause why it should not be enjolned from accept
ing public fares in It's private cabs lie eXpialheu
the situation follows:
BY the city ordinance which recently re-
enacted by the Board of Aldermen there is a pro
vision for permitting private cab stands near res
taurants hotels and buildings where business
would naturally These cabs have speclal
licenses and a compensation for their posltlons'
are not allowed to accept passengers except at
those places and then only persons who have
actually left the building In practice, Of course
it is impossible to enforce such a rule.
HEAVY SUBSIDIES TO HOTELS.
The hotels receive heavy subsidies for these con-
cessions, and the city gets a fat license fee be-
sides So there is a considerable burden on The
money they can The temptation is, Of course,
strong for their drivers TO take such passengers
as they pick up on their way back 10 the
stand after a long trip. But the companies often
manage to absorb most Of the business because OF
their positions.
For example at Madison Square there IS pub
lie stand between the street lines of Broadway and
Fifth avenue, in front of the new Fifth Avenue
Building. private stand was set up on the curD
Of Fifth avenue next the Fatiron Building, on the
+l,a tb baee
would give the traffic. The result is that all the
wOuld-be passengers who come up Fifth avenue
all who come along 23d street and many VINO
come up Broadway stop at the private stand That
is ruinOus for the public drivers. There are about
twenty-eight hundred public cabs in New York,
almost all owned by individual drivers. Rather
more than half automobile taxicabs. There are
about twenty-five hundred private cabs, all owned
by companies
When this ordinance was before the aldermen
offered on behalf of the public drivers to accept
a fare of Sc for the first half mile 10 cents
for each succeeding quarter, and 81 hour for
I waiting. condition that no private prl'llegeS
should be granted. That was refused ana the
high scale of rates now in effect IVES authorized.
The private stand system is absurd for city
like New York No other great city IN the world
tolcrates such a plan. The chief benehCiaHes are
the hotels I have been told the best authority
that one of the large and fashionable hotels gets
$4,000 year for the private stand privilege
THE QUESTION AT LAW
At the offices of the New York Taxicab Company
A brief statement was made on the case at law
The company contends. ii was said, that II IS DONG
a strictly private business in accepting passengers
who ask to be carried. no matter where the re
quest is made. The only violation of the terms
would be by this Interpretation, when driver
solicited fares when not the stand. further
search of the private companies discovered an
officer Of large company who consented TO speak
his mind on the broader question.
deal
men say he said. We not entirely satisfied
with the ordinance ourselves. New York IS an eX-
pensve town for cab operation at best The dis
tances up and down the island great that the
nroblen of getting fare for the return Trip al
wavs serious question is here factor of the very
first importance. You see that if a cab must
return to Il stand Wall street from trip TO
Central Park West without a passenger the fare OF
the first trip must pay for bringing the car back
AS our ren cannot solicit fares for the return,
We thus Operate at d disadvantage. On the otner
hand W. admit there some points where we
have advantages of position over the puthc caoS
which work their injury.
suppose the proposal Of the public cabmen was
accepted and ali private privileges were aban-
doned?" he was asked.
That would be strong medicine, Re said; but /
think it would be good for If all cabs We're
made public and required wait their turn at the
public stands with privileges of soliciting any
where I think the rates of fare could De lowered.
II IS an expensive business to maintain private
stands for the hotels demand considerable sums for
the privilege of standing them, and the ques-
ton Of return fares is also costly. The chief OBJ
lection would be that there are some public cabs
which hotel owners would not want 70 stand at
their doors That could be solved by system OF
municipal Inspection. that vehicle which be
came shabby could be retired by the city officials
And think that with cheaper service the use of
cabs bv the general public would increase i'm
menseIy."