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Hosted at the Renaissance Convention Center Hotel & Spa, the event promises to be packed with seminars, roundtable discussions, and exhibitors to help today’s fleets succeed.
Executives, managers, and other decision-makers will gain new insights for success on a variety of subjects, including: TLPA’s new Ride Local marketing campaign; a strategic planning process that is mapping a vision for the future of the industry and the association’s role in what lies ahead; how to transition to soft meters in taxis; how to make more money through motorcoaches; working constructively with transportation brokers; strategies for improving taxi service; hiring and retaining skilled paratransit drivers; and how to survive a DOT audit.
The casual Expo Hall offers a great one-on-one opportunity for vendors and operators to meet in a relaxed environment to compare products and prices. Attendees will also learn about the latest industry products and services from more than 30 of the industry’s leading vendors. Companies already contracted to exhibit include Bronze sponsor Flywheel, as well as Autocab International, AMF-Bruns of America, Atlas Financial Holdings, Azpired, Bankers Insurance, BiTS, Curb Mobility, iCabbi USA, Logisticare Solutions, MobilityWorks Taxi, Professional Insurance Center, Taxi Butler, Taxi Charger, ZipWhip and 3 Taxi Guys.
Conference-goers will have the chance to visit the operations of Airport Express, Inc./MedRide as the conference’s host operator, which, in a mouth-watering twist, will also be the site of a special BBQ dinner arranged by 3 Taxi Guys, a barbecue sauce company formed by three longtime taxicab operators and TLPA members. The company will bring its taxi-turned-barbecue smoker to Oklahoma City specially for this event.
“There has never been a better time to be a TLPA member, to get involved in this organization, and to position your company for future success,” said TLPA President Mike Pinckard of Total Transit, an Arizona-based transportation management services company. “This is where the conversations about the future of our industry are happening. No matter how big or small the fleet, there is always something at these conferences that will help you improve your operations and your bottom line.”
Visit tlpa.org/Spring-Conference to sign up for the TLPA Spring Conference & Expo, or to find the meeting agenda and hotel reservation information.
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Before that conversation could begin, however, a more sobering item needed to be addressed. On February 5, Douglas Schifter, a career black car driver and outspoken industry advocate, took his own life in a highly visible and publicized manner outside New York’s City Hall. The BCAC announced its intent to cover all costs for his funeral.
“I knew Doug for years as a fellow columnist in the Black Car News, and the Industry came to know Doug as a passionate advocate for all things aimed at the prosperity of our industry, and those within it—it is a severe loss,” said BCAC Executive Director Ira Goldstein. “I’m glad the BCAC is in a position to remove some of the financial burden from his loved ones during this already difficult time that nobody should have to endure.”
The most threatening among the regulations discussed at the meeting is the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission’s vote on wheelchair accessibility. The rule, recently passed by the agency, requires that 25 percent of all job requests be dispatched to accessible vehicles by the year 2020, regardless of whether or not the client requesting the vehicle indicates a specialized vehicle is needed.
With nearly 900 New York City FHV bases, a majority of which are small to medium-size base operations already hurting from the current oversaturation of the local market, there would be the need for significant widespread investment on their and/or their drivers’ parts in order to comply with the rule. Thousands of accessible vehicles would unnecessarily need to be purchased, which are unpopular and costly to both purchase and maintain.
When these rules were first proposed, the BCAC and fellow groups formed an FHV Industry Coalition aimed at tackling the then-proposed rule. The coalition developed an alternative solution to the issue of inadequate accessible vehicle service in New York City and proposed it to the TLC. After several rounds of revisions and negotiation with the TLC and industry stakeholders, the TLC Board of Commissioners voted to pass the coalition’s plan as a pilot program, set to run concurrent with its rulemaking.
The FHV Industry Coalition has numerous reservations about entering into the pilot program approved by the TLC due to some “poison pill” provisions insisted on by the TLC (such as the chair being able to cancel the pilot at any time and for any reason). With significant financial investment needed to get the pilot off the ground, the coalition is currently negotiating with the TLC to arrive at a memorandum of understanding while simultaneously litigating the rule.
An industry stakeholder presented the BCAC membership with the details on how such a pilot program would logistically be structured, as well as what would be required from all operators and stakeholders involved in order to make sure the pilot complies with the detailed benchmarks that the TLC put forward to measure success. Failure to meet any of the benchmarks would spell the end of the road for the coalition’s plan.
On the bright side, Edison Interactive, a targeted media marketing and technology company based in Denver, Colo., fully sponsored the event and presented the Industry with a way of providing a new revenue stream for base operators and drivers in the form of in-vehicle passenger tablets with targeted ads, free Wi-Fi, USB ports, and more. The drivers and operators receive a portion of the revenue taken in from advertisers, and the systems are obtained, installed, and serviced all at no cost to drivers or operators. This will be a nice injection of cash to the industry when it is sorely needed.
Visit nybcac.org for more information.
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And it was a largely successful endeavor that showed that the district is listening to the operators working under its jurisdiction.
“Our industry regularly attempts to meet with legislators, regulators and airport officials and are often given a deaf ear,” Jagiela said. “That has not been the case for the VLA.”
He added that most participants were from the general public addressing their challenges while also expressing their “pleasure in dealing with the DFHV.”
During his opportunity to speak, Jagiela acknowledged the promising “new direction, efforts, and successes the VLA has experienced while working with Director [Ernest] Chrappah since September 2016.” He also addressed the member-provided feedback from the VLA regarding areas the DFHV would do well to improve, such as enforcement limitations, a lack of renewal notifications for District Operating privilege stickers, and how a lack of access to staging areas often lead to loitering violations.
Jagiela believes this is “a first for any regulatory agency to want stakeholders to speak about their business relationship,” and found both the opportunity and the DFHV’s willingness to hear about its successes as well as its deficiencies an optimistic development.
The next VLA meeting will be April 2.
Visit vla-limo.org for more information.
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