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Atlantic City, N.J. — The Philadelphia Regional Limousine Association (PRLA) and Virginia Limousine Association (VLA) welcomed nearly 30 attendees to their joint meeting on November 15. CD’s Industry & Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela, who also serves as VLA executive director, was among those on hand for the early morning event.
PRLA President Steve Rhoads
PRLA President Steve Rhoads of Rhoads Limousine kicked off the meeting by discussing the longtime struggles the association has had with the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA), the regulatory body for the city’s ground transportation service.
Most recently, PRLA has sought legal counsel to oppose the PPA’s assessment, which has doubled to its present $868 per vehicle. The association has not only raised $27,000 to support its legal opposition but also filed a petition with the PPA. A judge has ordered the two organizations to work together and reach a settlement before advancing a full legal suit.
As legislation has been approved to allow TNCs to operate legitimately in Pennsylvania, PRLA is considering hiring a lobbyist and anticipating future amendments to such a law.
VLA President Paul Walsh
The benefit of having operators representing other states present for the meeting was keenly felt when it was time to address the Philadelphia International Airport updates. Illinois Limousine Association President Tracy Raimer of Chicago Transportation Group and VLA member Barry Gross of Reston Limousine and President Paul Walsh of Superior Executive Transportation provided insight into their own regions’ parallel issues.
It was also mentioned that the Philadelphia Airport is considering both ingress and egress fees in the future.
Walsh then discussed the VLA’s own news, advising operators that the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority will strictly adhere to current airport regulations during the presidential inauguration. Gross then discussed the tremendous strides that the association has made with its historically bristly relationship with the state’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles (DFHV), crediting Jagiela for his role in strengthening those ties. He added that the VLA is working to obtain D.C. operating authority for out-of-District operators.
Bill Faeth concluded the meeting with a Limo University presentation.
VLA will host its holiday party December 1, while PRLA’s annual Monte Carlo Night will be December 14.
Visit vla-limo.org or prlainc.com for more information about the VLA and PRLA, respectively.
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Washington — Carey International has announced that it is opening an operation in the Houston metropolitan area. Carey Limousine Houston, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, commenced service for existing customers on November 4, and is now expanding its service offerings to the public.
"As the fourth largest city in the U.S., Houston stands as another significant hub in our collection of international business centers in which Carey International operates," said Gary Kessler, president and CEO of Carey International. "We look forward to working with Houston's business travel community to provide Carey's signature ground transportation solutions in Southeast Texas and in the more than 1000 other cities in which we operate."
Carey Houston specializes in executive and leisure transportation, and provides specialized ground transportation logistics management services, including group transportation for meetings and events, private aviation ground transport services to private airfields, FBOs, and regional/municipal airports, and one-on-one road show transportation management.
Visit carey.com for more information.
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L to R: Louis Weiner of All Star Worldwide Transportation, Michael Barreto of Flyte Tyme Worldwide, Philip Jagiela of PALM Association Management and Consulting, and Douglas Rydbom of Premiere #1 Limousine
After nearly a year and a half of careful planning and exploratory meetings, transportation professionals around the Keystone State have announced that the Pennsylvania Passenger Transportation Association (PPTA) is on its way to becoming an established organization.
The association will serve as a unified, statewide voice for chauffeured ground transportation, ambulance and school bus services, and the taxi, bus, and motorcoach industries.
While a June 2016 exploratory meeting featured a dozen attendees—with luxury transportation as well as the state’s bus, taxi, and ambulance associations accounting for those companies represented—PPTA’s founders include Michael Barreto of Flyte Tyme Worldwide, Douglas Rydbom of Premiere #1 Limousine, and Louis Weiner of All Star Worldwide Transportation. CD’s Industry & Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela, also of PALM Association Management and Consulting, will serve as executive director.
According to Barreto, the association will be “the strong transportation base we need in Pennsylvania” while helping the state’s many passenger-transportation operations work in a concerted effort and deliver a consistent message.
“The idea came about that we would open it to not just the livery industry but to anyone who does for-hire transportation with passengers in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We figured that it would give us a lot broader of a brush to deliver information to the capitol with, and it would also give us a better understanding to have people outside our industry offer their input and influence to initiatives we want to see in the state.”
The PPTA has been a long-gestating idea, as Barreto said that its founders were exercising caution while diligently crafting an association that would offer clear supplementary benefits—not competition to preexisting organizations.
“We needed to know how to go about establishing this association without conflicting with any other association’s initiatives,” he said. “This association is being formed to have a unified voice for the for-hire industry in the state capitol. That’s the most important thing. We’re not trying to pull away from what the other associations have done at the state and federal levels—we want to enhance that with one message at a statewide level to reach our representatives and get things done.”
Specific to this industry, Barreto points out that as operators are delving into work beyond the more traditional retail and corporate mainstays, having a diverse association will help them navigate the landscape of a changing decade to come.
“Considering that a lot of livery operators are diversifying into transit contract shuttle work, motorcoach work, and medical nonabulatory work, it seemed to address where our industry will be heading over the next 10 years or so,” he explained.
It was important to include as many voices as possible to “develop more avenues of connections and communication to other industries that we’ve never had before.”
Barreto added that in addition to the association advocating for and providing education to the overall passenger transportation industry, it will also be serving as a watchdog organization to the benefit of companies still battling for a level playing field against ever-encroaching TNCs.
The PPTA plans to meet every other month in 2017—twice each in the eastern, central, and western thirds of the state—with its first official meeting to be heldin the year’s first quarter. A daylong meeting featuring education and a Day on the Hill is also in the works.
Email Barreto at michaelb@flytetime.com for more information about PPTA.
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