HALCA Names New Board Members for 2015

Houston — The Houston Area Livery & Charter Association (HALCA) held its most recent meeting November 4.

With HALCA board members Erich Reindl of Avanti Transportation, Richard Mishriky of CTI Transportation, and Mary Vaught of Vaught Insurance stepping down once their terms expire, the vacant positions will be filled by Lauren Barrash of The Wave, Rony Dieudonne of Global Transportation, and Kevin Claypool of Atlas Limousines for 2015. 

The meeting included discussions about issues that members should consider before renewing their permits with the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department, which included: being aware that the city of Houston could either deny the issuance of new permits to or shut down operators if they seek permits for vehicles with a salvage title; a city ordinance mandates that adequate insurance coverage is $1 million; and all fire extinguishers in passenger transportation vehicles must be “in immediate reach” of drivers.

TNCs remain a hot issue for Houston-area operators—and one that doesn’t seem to be abating in the near future, even with Lyft’s announcement that it would pause operations in the city, effective November 20. But, according to current HALCA President Reindl, ground transportation operators are feeling the sting of newcomer Uber drivers receiving the privileges that established livery companies have been requesting for years.

“For almost two years, we’ve been asking for additional parking at the airport because we don’t have enough room,” Reindl says. “So Uber comes in and the city gives them their separate parking spots. The industry has been here for nearly 30 years and never got that, but Uber—who wasn’t here a year or two ago—gets it in just a few weeks.”

HALCA’s next event will be its holiday party on December 14.

Visit houstonlimos.info for more information.

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