Jackson looks to make it easier for taxicabs to operate

The Jackson City Council wants to make it easier to start a taxi service in the city.

The council is proposing to reduce the number of vehicles requred to operate a taxicab company in the city from eight to four or fewer.

The council was set to vote Tuesday on an ordinance reducing the number to four, but a vote was delayed after some council members wanted to go further and to require only one vehicle and to allow a cab service to operate from a business location or a home office.

“We don’t require a wrecker service to have four vehicles,” council President De’Keither Stamps said. “They (taxi services) should only have to have one vehicle.”

Stamps said he believes the city ordinances that require a physical location and eight cars to start a taxi service blocks competition.

Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote said the requirement of eight vehicles places cab companies at a disadvantage, especially with ride-sharing services such as Uber.

In addition to the eight-car requirement, current city ordinances mandate a cab company have a physical location and operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“Why can’t you operate the hours you want?” Foote asked.

The ordinance to reduce the minimum number of vehicles came from the city’s rules committee, chaired by Ward 6 Councilman Tyrone Hendrix.

Hendrix, whose committee worked with cab owners and drivers to craft a new ordinance, said a lot goes into operating a taxi in Jackson. Hendrix said the city issues a certificate of need to operate a taxi business in Jackson.

Hendrix argued against altering the proposal of reducing from eight to four vehicles that was worked out with cab owners and drivers.

“We are against reducing it below four,” said Deluxe Cab Co. owner Tyra Dean, who represents cab owners and drivers. “We agree the it (ordinance) needs to be updated, but you can’t do away with the rules.”

Dean said it would be impossible to operate a taxi service safely with one vehicle

The council delayed a vote until the next meeting in two weeks to allow the rules committee to conduct a public hearing on the proposed ordinance.

The city began looking at changes to its ordinance after Uber began operating in Jackson in December.

Jackson taxicab owners and drivers told city officials that Uber has an unfair advantage over taxi services.

Hendrix said Tuesday that regulations dealing with Uber will be in a separate ordinance. The city currently has no regulations or ordinance dealing with ride-sharing services.

Uber allows mobile phone users to hail a car from anywhere in the Uber coverage area, which locally includes Jackson, Ridgeland, Flowood and Pearl. Uber’s business model is similar to a traditional cab service, but it hinges on the “ride sharing” term, which allows the company to bypass typical municipal, state and federal cab requirements or restrictions.

“We just want the City Council and the mayor not to discard us,” Dean said of regular taxi services, which have operated for several decades in the city.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.