Proposed changes to ordinance could affect El Paso cab companies

El Paso cab companies are not too happy with a city proposal to make changes to the Transportation for Hire Ordinance.

In 2016, El Paso city council voted to deregulate local cab companies to level the playing field and allow them to compete with ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

Now the city wants to amend the ordinance.

Last Thursday, the El Paso Police Department hosted a meeting at its headquarters to go over the proposed changes with owners of local cab companies.

The proposals call for cab companies to have the name and telephone number of the taxicab service painted or permanently affixed on both sides of the vehicle.

Companies would no longer be allowed to use magnetic signs that you sometimes see on the top of some cabs.

The vehicles would also have to have distinctive markings and color scheme.

The designs of the vehicles would then need to be submitted to the El Paso Police Dept. for approval to ensure it doesn’t cause any confusion with other cab companies.

The cabs would also have to be properly maintained both inside and out, meaning no litter inside the cab and no damage to the vehicle’s body or defecitive paint.

At last week’s meeting, there was even talk of cab drivers having to wear a uniform.

Joe Olivar, owner of Border Cab Taxi, believes the proposals are a bit intrusive.

“A lot of these items are common sense issues,” Olivar said. “Let the city stay out of that, let the industry take care of itself and what I mean by that is if somebody walks up and sees a driver they do not like, don’t get in that car.”

Another one of Olivar’s concern is that ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft would not be affected.

Once again putting his company at a disadvantage.

“They’re not touching Uber, but they are going to start regulating the cab industry that we fought hard to try and get a decent shake out of the ordinance to try and have a level playing field and now the city doesn’t seem to own up to their commitments,” Olivar said.

El Paso Police say nothing is set in stone and the meetings serve as a way to keep an open dialogue and get feedback from cab owners.

Sgt. Enrique Carrillo is the spokesman for the El Paso Police Department.

“It’s been determined that changes need to be made, but again those are proposed,” Carrillo said. “Combined with the input from the community including the cab drivers or anybody involved in vehicle for hire, we’re going to take those into account before there is a final product that is released.”

Another meeting to discuss the proposed changes is scheduled for April 25th at the Armijo public library in downtown El Paso.

Meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.