Taxi fares are going up if the County Council passes an amendment to a county law. Actions have been deferred on the change, for now. At a meeting of the council held in the historic County Building last Thursday, taxi
Taxi fares are going up if the County Council passes an amendment to a county law.
Actions have been deferred on the change, for now.
At a meeting of the council held in the historic County Building last Thursday, taxi driver Everett Dumapit and his fiancee, Debbie Benuzzi, owners of Kapa’a-based Anytime Taxi, said they weren’t concerned about the inaction.
The couple, who have been in the taxi business on Kaua’i for five months, said they favored all the proposed changes in legislation introduced by councilman Joe Munechika.
If passed, the increase would boost the starting fare that shows up on a taxi meter from $2 to $2.50.
“This is the way it should be,” Damapit said of the proposed legislation. “It is all good.”
The couple said approval of the revised ordinance would allow them to start a new life, to expand their one-cab business and to pass the business to their children if they desired.
Favorable council action would mark the first time in ten years the fare structure used by Kaua’i’s taxi cabs was changed. The change would allow the small industry, which currently consists of 54 taxi cab drivers, to keep pace with inflation and to expand their operations, drivers say.
The council deferred action because of concerns by some taxi drivers about how long taxi cab permits could remain valid.
Some wanted to see renewal of the permits every four years, while others support the current proposal of renewing the permits annually, as a way to avoid abuse, Damapit said. The proposal will come up in later council meetings.
Damapit and Benuzzi said they work as bartenders at the Tradewinds, a South Seas-themed bar located at the Coconut Market Place in Wailua, and are content with their work.
But the couple said they started their taxi service five months ago because of the demand for expanded taxi cab service by residents and visitors.
“We know of the demand, working in the customer service industry,” Benuzzi said. “There are no taxis after 9:30 (p.m.) and no short runs (taxi cab drivers are sometimes reluctant to take fares that don’t cover more than a mile).
The amended ordinance, if approved in its current form, will help knock down barriers people face in trying to get into Kaua’i’s taxi cab industry, Damapit said.
“When I got into this industry, the Department of Motor Vehicles (the Kaua’i County Finance Department, which oversees taxi operations and fares), they told me I couldn’t get a permit.”
The number of cabs allowed on Kaua’i was set by the current ordinance, which established one taxi for every 70 hotel rooms.
The proposed ordinance amendment drops that figure to 50 hotels, which opens up the possibility of the issuance of ten more taxi permits by the county.
Damapit said he currently operates one cab, but through lotteries proposed every three years in the council’s legislation, he may have access to inactive permits held by other taxi cab companies, or qualify for the new permits.
Damapit and Benuzzi said they were only able to operate their cab service by subcontracting with North Shore Taxi, and paying the company a percentage of their profits.
With a proposed condition requiring annual payment of $125 for each taxi cab, operators will make sure their vehicles are in running order, or have to relinquish their permits to the county, Damapit said.
Damapit and Benuzzi said they hope to meet demands they say are not being met by taxi cab drivers on Kaua’i now — complaints by riders that “they can’t get a cab.”
“People say they have to wait one hour for a taxi pickup, and some riders say taxi cab drivers don’t make short runs,” Benuzzi said.
Her company, she said, is the only one on Kaua’i that operates 24 hours a day, will make efforts to pick up passengers in a timely manner regardless of where they are on the island, and will make “short runs.”
“If they want me to take them 50 feet down the road, I will do it. That is the aloha spirit,” said Damapit, who is part Hawaiian.
Some of the key provisions of the proposed ordinance amendment are:
- Increasing for each one-eight mile traveled from 25 cents to 30 cents.
- Increasing each 45 seconds of additional waiting time or less, when the taxi is waiting in traffic, from 25 cents to 30 cents.
- Increasing the handling charge for each piece of baggage from 35 cents to 40 cents.
- Reducing an optional charge from $5 to $3 for handling surfboards, bicycles, baggage or freight that are too large for placement in the trunk or passenger area.
- Charging $100 for initial meter actuation (the moment riders get into a cab) for a minimum of two hours of touring or charter time.
- Adding on $50 for an additional hour of touring time.
Damapit said it was his impression that this provision was being eliminated. He contended no workable method for taxi tours can be worked out, and that meters should be used when tours are conducted.
The price of charter bus tours and taxi tours of the island is about the same, but some visitors opt for the latter because they are more personalized, Damapit said.
Taxi drivers can stop just about anywhere on the island, while charter buses usually can only make scheduled stops, Damapit said.
Taxi drivers also personalized the tours because they can talk story in more detail about visitor attractions than their counterparts on tour buses, Damapit said. The personalized tours lead to repeat business for his company, or referrals, he said.
The new rules also would allow senior citizens, handicapped persons or students to get a discount on fares. The discounts, however, are not to exceed 20 percent of the metered fare.
- Taxi cab drivers must obtain a valid taxicab permit from the county Finance Department.
- Each taxi driver must have a cab inspected by the driver license section of the county Finance Department before applying for a taxi cab permit.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
