The Las Vegas economy is hurting. Unemployment is higher than ever in Nevada, if you consider that there are many undocumented workers who moved to Las Vegas in the last decade when the Las Vegas economy was thriving, and the undocumented workers are not included in official employment statistics. Nevada has the highest rate of home foreclosures in the nation. For the first time in 17 years the population of Las Vegas is declining. Multi-billion dollar construction projects on the Las Vegas strip have stopped construction and are sitting idle waiting for better days. Stores do not have the traffic they are used to, and lots of small businesses are closing.

The locals are not taking as many cab rides to and from the airport. When traffic was bad around the strip on Friday and Saturday nights, I used to go to the outskirts of town, and there would always be locals needing cabs at casinos. But the cab companies are not getting as many radio calls, and there are not as many locals going to casinos, so the restricted cabs have to sit in line at the local casinos waiting for rides.

After September 11, 2001, a lot of cab drivers quit and went to work elsewhere because business was bad at that time, but now the Las Vegas economy is worse than that. In 2001 and 2002, Las Vegas was still the fastest growing city in America with the most new home construction. Real estate was going up, and people had money, and banks were loaning like crazy, and the 33 million people living in California could afford to drive to Las Vegas to party. The tourist business rebounded within six months and was followed by five years of incredible growth, record tourists, record room occupancy, record convention crowds, record taxi pick-ups at the airport, and money was flowing into Las Vegas. 

Last week my take home pay, including tips and my check, came out to $365 for 55 hours of work. One of my pay checks in December was under $400 for 96 hours. Of course, I could have made more money by long-hauling customers, and my employer would have been happy that I booked more (even though my company does not pressure me like some other companies do), but I am not a crook. My employer requires me to work 55 hours, even if there is no business. Recently there are many times when I haven't been able to get more than 10 rides in an 11-hour shift. I never thought in my life that I would make this little money for 40 hours a week, much less for 55 hours a week, but I need to keep my job so I can keep my health insurance. Two years ago this was a $60,000 a year job for hard working drivers who worked 60 hours a week, even if they were honest. Crooks were able to make much more than that.

Lately, I have been using more gas and doing a lot of driving around looking for places to get rides.  Many times I cannot get in line at the hotel after dropping people off at hotels because there is no more room for cabs in the line, so I have to find somewhere else to go. I used to go downtown or to the airport on slow nights because there is a better chance to get a long ride. But now it is usually impossible to get in line downtown without sitting somewhere illegal to get on a legal cab stand, and I do not make enough money to pay for tickets, because I do not long-haul my customers through the "spaghetti bowl" from downtown on the way to the strip, so my rides from downtown are less than most cabbies. Many times the airport officials are chasing away taxis because there is no more room for them there. Even if I can get in line at the airport, it does not pay for me to wait that long, because I am not going to take the tunnel to long-haul customers, so my rides from the airport are cheaper than most cabbies.

Over 90% of the time over the past six months I just take customers right down the Las Vegas strip from one place to another instead of using back roads or alleys. Most cabbies are still taking customers on back roads or on the freeway in order to increase their fares, and telling customers it is faster, even when there is no traffic on the strip. The first time I moved to Las Vegas was 17 years ago, and I have never seen Las Vegas Boulevard as maneuverable as it has been in the past six months. I can remember when there were no walkways going over Las Vegas Boulevard at the Flamingo Road intersection, and it took forever to get through that intersection from any direction because of the people crossing the streets. There have not been pedestrians blocking that intersection for over a decade, but the sheer volume of traffic on the Las Vegas strip usually turns Las Vegas Boulevard into a parking lot, especially on weekends; but not lately. Knowing how to use the back roads and alleys has been the trademark of a good Las Vegas cabbie in the past. I wonder if I will remember where the back roads are when the economy improves?

Times are tough for crooks, too. These days the trademark of most Las Vegas cabbies is knowing how to get on the freeway and take tourists the long way. When business is slow and the crooks and thieves are not busy long-hauling people from downtown and the airport, they are busy stealing rides from cabbies who are on cab stands the way they are supposed to be. 

The cab companies have been allowed to encourage and pressure Las Vegas taxi drivers to be crooks and thieves. Some of the companies are much worse than others in that regard. Most of the honest decent cabbies in Las Vegas are gone because they got fired for not booking enough or they couldn't afford to pay their bills. A lot of drivers who used to be honest and decent have turned into crooks in order to survive. I am lucky that I work at a company that has let me work unrestricted without being a crook, and without being harassed. I know they would like me to book more, and I would like to make more money, but I am not going to be a crook for them or anyone else, and they have not asked me to.

If the Nevada Taxicab Authority cracked down on long hauling, which is very simple to do, it would be very bad for me, unless the Nevada Taxicab Board also reduced the number of taxis. I profit from the thieves and crooks driving cabs in Las Vegas. Every time people get in my cab and I take them the short way, they are frequently aware that I got them back to their destination for way less, so most people are decent and tip me more. If the Nevada Taxicab Authority put a stop to long-hauling by drivers, it would mean that the owners of the cab companies would have much less revenue, and the companies would have to figure out ways to take it out of the drivers' pockets to make up for their losses. What would be nice for me, was if the Nevada Taxicab Board realized that temporary reductions in the number of medallions is appropriate at this time, and that would make it possible for the few honest decent drivers left to survive the recession. The best thing for everyone would be for the economy to magically improve.

The cab companies need to put all the cabs on the street all the time, and they need to make the drivers work their entire shifts even when there is no business, because the cab companies have to pay their bills with less revenue coming in, so they need to try to get every ride possible. I do not blame the owners of the cab companies for keeping up with their competitors. But having more empty cabs sitting in lines doesn't increase the total revenue for anyone, and that is why there needs to be regulation and over-sight.

The Nevada Taxicab Board should give Las Vegas cabbies a break by temporarily reducing the number of medallions in service, which would not hurt the total revenue for cab companies. The Nevada Taxicab Authority and the Nevada Taxicab Board increased the number of cabs when economic times were at their best, but it seems as though they do not care about doing the right thing when it comes to "regulating" and temporarily reducing medallions, which is supposed to be their job.

Or, maybe, all the drivers and cab company owners, and state regulators and taxi enforcement, could all be honest and decent, and just do the things that they should. But we know that won't happen.

by Vegas Taxi Driver
January 18, 2009