Taken for a ride

In mid-December, as the first true cold spell of winter descended upon Tampa Bay, a group of Hillsborough County's leading state lawmakers descended upon the University of South Florida's Tampa campus. They were there to discuss legislation affecting the county that they intended to introduce in the Legislative session beginning this March.

Although only a few bills were up for discussion, over two hours were spent on just one of them — a proposal by Valrico-based state Senator Ronda Storms that would eliminate Hillsborough's Public Transportation Commission (PTC), which regulates taxis, limousines, vans and basic life-support ambulances, and cede control of those vehicles to the County Commission, which is how they're handled in every other county in Florida. Storms said the agency's work was costly, redundant and filled with excessive regulations. And she said that if there was one issue that rang crystal clear from the midterm elections, it's that the public wants government to stop wasting money and increase accountability.

When the public was allowed to weigh in, the event developed into an extraordinary display of blue-collar unity. Cab driver after cab driver took to the microphone to denounce the PTC, nearly every one of them condemning the agency as "corrupt." Meanwhile, nearly as many people representing limousines spoke in support of the PTC.

The cabbies' litany of complaints about PTC is long, including the fact that it bans companies other than Yellow and United from working Tampa International Airport.

But their anger is symptomatic of a more widespread malaise, reflecting the strains of working in a business with no security and zero benefits during an economic downturn.

Tampa-based community activist Dena Leavengood heard the pain in the cabbies' voices. She knew their concerns were legitimate, but she also saw that they weren't really organized. So she offered to help.

She has since arranged two meetings, the first attracting over 100 cabbies to a crowded room at Jan Platt Library in South Tampa, and the second a more specific discussion at the library last week that drew approximately 40 drivers.

Leavengood, who knew little about the cab industry before opting to get involved, says "We're simply trying to help them find resources on health care, learn how they can work together to share ideas, and that they are valuable people in our community."

Valuable, but not very appreciated. Tampa Bay area citizens probably don't realize that when they pay their $25 tab plus a tip when they catch a cab from Tampa International, there's a good chance that none of that money will go directly to the cab driver, but instead will go to the company from which he leases his car.

In Hillsborough County, drivers are considered "independent contractors," but one cabbie told his colleagues last week at Jan Platt that they're more akin to "indentured servants."

That's because they must pay over $500 a week to lease their cabs and are having a harder time than ever actually making that much, even though many work all seven days and generally well over 10 hours a day. They must also pay the PTC for an annual hack permit, a fee that went from $10 to $75 last year without explanation. They get no health benefits, no paid days off, no sick time. In fact, some are on the county's indigent health care plan.

Long Island native John Bailey has driven a cab on and off in Tampa for 25 years, and says the last three years have been the toughest ever. It takes him 5 1/2 days a week to pay off the weekly lease payment to his current company, leaving him Saturday night and all day Sunday to actually make any money.

At last week's meeting, he said he wanted to form an association (not a union) that would elect representatives to deal with the cab companies.

But Leavengood told Bailey she didn't think the group was ready to go that far yet, saying "process and team-building is slow." Ultimately the meeting ended with an agreement that seven designated leaders, representing different groups of drivers, would agree to meet in the next few weeks.

But several cabbies said it was imperative that some sort of organizing happen soon, or the momentum of any collective action would be lost.

Vincent Tolbert, who has driven a cab in Tampa for over 15 years, agrees. He says that the recent spate of activism represents the fourth time in his career that drivers have gotten together for either a work stoppage or improved working conditions.

He says drivers are united in the desire to buy permits directly, instead of leasing them through cab companies.

Currently there are roughly 700 or so such permits in the county, most of them controlled by Hillsborough's two behemoth cab companies, Yellow and United.

And who gives out the permits? The Public Transportation Commission.

Created in 1976 by the state Legislature, the PTC is the only such regulatory agency in the State, its powers set forth in state law, not in local ordinance. Its board includes three county commissioners, two Tampa City Council members and representatives from Temple Terrace and Plant City.

Its staff includes an executive director, an attorney and inspectors (who carry guns and drive police cars). Ironically, despite its name, the agency does not oversee public transportation in the usual sense of the word (buses, trolleys), but regulates private businesses.

And while allegations of "corruption" may be heated rhetoric, criticism has rained down on the agency for years. Senator Storms later shifted her proposal from calling for elimination of the PTC to allowing the County Commission to decide its fate, but she has been withering in her denunciations of the agency.

And those complaints aren't limited to Hillsborough County.

Walter Kozak owns a passenger transportation service in Hernando County, but is suing the PTC because he says the agency told him he couldn't pick up passengers at Tampa International in his mini-van. He said he was told when he went into business in 2003 that he needed to own a luxury vehicle to do business at the airport.

Currently he's allowed to drop people off, but can't pick them up. That means he can't offer round trips to his primary demographic, "grandmas" traveling to and from Citrus and Hernando to the airport.

Kozak's verdict: "The PTC is a corrupt agency that's basically a tool for the infighting between the taxi cabs and the taxi limousine service."

But unlike others who criticize the PTC, Vincent Tolbert fears if it's disbanded, "You'll have taxi cabs from everywhere trying to get their foothold here — and there's not enough work right now."

And what does the board of county commissioners think of the PTC, or Storm's initial bill to eliminate it?

Before the delegation meeting, Storms met with Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill about killing the agency, but after his staff did a quick economic analysis, he advised county commissioners that it wouldn't be a good deal for the county. The commission then voted down the proposal.

But Storms argued that a fair accounting was needed to truly determine if there would a cost savings, and said that Hillsborough County Budget Director Eric Johnson had declined to include certain assumptions in his review. But Merrill denies that, and told CL last week that the analysis Johnson performed was solid considering the time constraints he was under before the delegation meeting.

Bottom line: "I don't have capacity in this organization to just absorb the staff work at the PSC." Saying that the county government is in the process of severely scaling back its services, he's not convinced that there are any savings to be had. But he says if Governor Scott signs the legislation authorizing the county to decide the agency's fate, he'll welcome the opportunity, adding that he recognizes Senator Storms' concerns.

It's not like the PTC has escaped attention in the past. Another recent controversy was its handling of the electric car companies that made a positive impression in Tampa. The PTC voted to begin regulating them after an attorney representing Yellow Cab (the electric cabs' competitor) convinced them they had the authority to do so.

There was also that unfortunate situation of the PTC's executive director, Cesar Padilla, getting hired in the fall of 2007 even though he didn't have the qualifications for the job (a college degree, which he has since received).

But while the PTC's viability may or may not be on the line, will the lives of Tampa's cab drivers improve at all? The cabbies hope that their concentrated efforts might persuade public officials in addition to Ronda Storms to start looking out for their interests.

This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.