Cherry Creek Shopping Center intends to reverse its policy of allowing only Metro and Yellow taxis in the mall’s cab stand.
Cherry Creek general manager Nick LeMasters said Thursday that the mall will hold discussions today with Freedom and Union taxi officials on a timetable for restoring their access to the mall.
LeMasters said Cherry Creek decided to reverse its exclusivity deal with Metro and Yellow in the wake of community opposition.
“We’ve had feedback from the community voicing concerns about our decision,” he said.
“We recognize that the policy may have been shortsighted, and we have reconsidered our position.”
Cherry Creek disclosed in November it had created a sponsorship deal in which Yellow and Metro would pay to lease taxi space at the mall in exchange for exclusive rights to pick up shoppers.
Earlier this week, Union and Freedom filed complaints with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission against Metro and Yellow, alleging that the exclusive deal was anti-competitive.
Kamlet Reichert attorney Ray Gifford, representing Union Taxi, said the change in Cherry Creek policy “is great news for both customers and our drivers.”
“We’re certainly thrilled that Cherry Creek is going back to open access,” he said.
“What that (earlier) policy had invited was a slippery slope where everybody would fight for exclusive deals. That just adds costs to consumers and reduces competition.”
Gifford said it is not yet clear whether the PUC complaint will be dropped or if Union and Freedom will seek a ruling on the issue of taxi-stand exclusivity.
Officials of Yellow and Metro did not return calls for comment.
Although Cherry Creek will allow all taxi companies to use the cab stand next to Neiman Marcus, LeMasters said he will ask the companies to limit the number of vehicles.
The area accommodates 12 to 15 taxis, but sometimes as many as 30 are lined up, LeMasters said, spilling into other parts of mall property.
“We don’t need that many taxis sitting here, idling and queuing up,” he said.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
