Tighter restrictions eyed on Chattanooga taxi licenses

One member of the city's Transportation Board suggested that the panel may examine ways to tighten restrictions on who can drive a taxi.

Chattanooga City Councilman Manny Rico said one major change could be revising the language in driver applications to make it more difficult for someone with a felony conviction to drive a taxi.

"We have to protect the public they're hauling," said Mr. Rico, who is the council's representative on the board.

The current ordinance states that anyone with a felony arrest within the last three years cannot drive a taxi. Mr. Rico said the board could look at extending that to five years.

Bart Quinn, chairman of the board, did not return repeated phone calls to his office.

A third regulation that the board could examine is giving a grace period to taxi cab companies that apply for permits. Mr. Rico said the board might look at giving taxi cab owners 90 days to get their cabs. The grace period now is 30 days, records show.

The new changes would give taxi owners the ability to buy or lease their cabs after filing their applications.

The board meets on Thursday. Assistant City Attorney Crystal Freiberg said she was working on drafts of the proposed changes but had nothing in writing yet.

"I don't know if I'll have anything to present Thursday," she said.

Local taxi owners said they oppose the changes. Tim Duckett, owner of Millenium Taxi, said the grace period might lead to oversaturation of cabs in the market.

"Anybody can jump in," he said.

Extending the time a driver with a felony arrest could drive also would be detrimental to the city's taxi industry, Mr. Duckett said. Many taxi drivers are poor and disadvantaged, he said. They need breaks, and having a job is one way out.

Asking them to pay for background checks and physicals was unfair, he said.

"You're going to ask a guy to pay $250 on (the chance of) getting a job?" he asked.

Randy Van Hooser, owner of All-American Taxi, said he agreed that extending the grace period could mean more competitors entering the market. Criminal background checks should be considered on a "case-by-case basis" because not every criminal offense is equal, he said.

"I don't care if they extend it 10 years," he said. "They should look at it case-by-case."