Conflicting Rates Causing Cab Chaos -- Taxi Fares Set Lower In City Than In County

In tall buildings downtown, officials pass laws.

In the mud at 3736 Rainier Ave. S., Farzin Chegini lives by those laws.

He says they don't work.

Chegini and other cab owners and drivers say conflicting taxi laws, imposed by several jurisdictions, have created chaos within the the taxi industry and prevented it from better serving the public.

The most recent dispute stems from differing fare rates imposed by the city of Seattle and King County. King County recently increased its fare structure, while Seattle didn't.

The result is that many cabs that had been licensed in both jurisdictions now are faced with having to choose one or the other - a company licensed in the county, for example, would be violating Seattle's laws if it charged the higher county rate in the city.

"It is becoming critical," says Doug Bohlke, executive director of the Evergreen State Taxi Association, an industry trade group. "Without the same rates in the city and county, most taxis will lose one of their licenses or operate in violation of either the city or county ordinances."

Seattle plans to consider a fare readjustment in January, when it does an annual review of cab fares, but the industry is divided over whether the fares should be equalized.

Farwest Taxi Cabs has argued for a rate increase in the city, for example, saying a lack of uniform rates would result in "irreparable harm" to the industry.

Chegini disagrees. He owns Broadway Cab, the largest fleet of cabs here licensed only to operate within the Seattle city limits, and says that if the city raises its rates to match the county's, many of his customers couldn't afford the price hike.

And without their business, his business would suffer.

Among its ridership, Broadway Cab carries about 300 riders early every month to markets for groceries. They are too poor to afford cars, and often too old to walk to a bus stop or carry groceries long distances. Cabs provide their link to basic services.

Money is an issue for cab companies such as Broadway, which operates from a former used-car lot. Their "offices" are tiny cubicles, crowded with junk.

Rod Serverson, dispatcher, sits in one of the cubicles, surrounded by trash and cigarette butts, the area heated by a tiny electric heater.

Outside are the cabs themselves, all at least 10 years old, 1970s and 1980s Fords and Chevys.

Insurance alone costs from $5,800 to $6,700 per cab per year. After payroll, taxes, rent, telephones, and advertising, there's rarely much left for better cabs or service improvements.

Now, Chegini says, things could get even worse, as the city and county try to resolve disputes over fare regulation.

In September, his company wrote to all members of the City Council, asking that the city not fix rates with the county.

"Price fixing does not solve anything. Price fixing only supports sloth, negligence and dereliction," says Chegini.

Broadway got only one response, from Councilwoman Sue Donaldson, who said the rates are under study.

Chegini says the real problem is found in the myriad of rules passed by various governments to try to regulate a business that receives no public subsidies.

"They have too many governments battling each other," he says.