Big changes could be ahead for Anchorage’s taxi industry. During it’s meeting this Tuesday, the Assembly will vote on a measure that aims to eliminate the fixed number of cabs operating in the city, which would happen in a phased approach over the next few years.
“What the ordinance does is basically (end) the sort of monopoly the municipality has created around the number of taxi-cabs that are allowed to operate in the city, and moves towards a more open market,” said Bill Evans, the South Anchorage Assembly member who introduced the ordinance.
If it passes, the measure would get rid of the secondary-market for cab permits, which can cost more than $100,000 according to documents submitted by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.
Currently, Anchorage has less than 200 taxi permits. Evans’s measure would allow 20 more permits to come online every year for five years, transitioning toward a totally open market. At that point, taxis would be more like a regular business license, with an annual fee of $1,980 to maintain annually.
Evans and other critics of Anchorage’s cab industry say there are not enough vehicles to meet demand at times like bar-break, and that far-flung parts of the municipality like the Hillside and Eagle River are under-served.
“It’s not deregulation of the taxi industry, because we’re still going to have all the same safety regulations on drivers and on vehicles that currently exist,” Evans said. “We’re only changing the number of taxis that can be allowed to operate.”
The measure, if it passes, will not bring in app-based cab services like Uber and Lyft, which are currently blocked from operating in Alaska under state laws. But there are pieces of the bill which open the door to such companies, and Evans is planning on introducing a subsequent measure that would give them the green light if state law’s change.
There’ll be a separate measure also up for a vote on whether to attach a $1 charge to cab fares where the customer pays with a credit card.
Public testimony before the Assembly starts after 6 p.m. in the Loussac Library.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
@ZachHughesAK About Zachariah
