The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday went against an administrative-law judge’s decision granting 300 new taxi permits — 150 each for Denver Yellow Cab and startup Liberty Taxi — saying Lower Downtown is too congested with cabbies.
Two commissioners of the three-member panel decided Liberty had not proved it was financially viable to pull off a virtual cabstand idea that requires an expensive dispatch system reliant on Internet- and telephone-messaging reservations.
And in deciding against Yellow Cab, Commissioners James Tarpey and Matt Baker sided with industry leader Metro Taxi’s contention that too many taxis are battling for what little business there is downtown, most of it to Denver International Airport.
Administrative Law Judge Paul Gomez in March ruled in favor of the permits.
Liberty to consider appeal
The decision surprised some in attendance.
“I’d rather live under a dictatorship than a false democracy,” said Lotfi Chalbi, a co-owner in Liberty, who said the group’s business plan was moving along toward a launch.
Attorney Jake Eisenstein with Liberty said he expected the commissioners to side with the judge who granted the permits. He said Liberty will “most certainly” consider an appeal.
An attorney representing Yellow Cab, which is run by Colorado Cab Co., declined to comment until he could speak with company officials.
“The commissioners did the right thing,” said Metro general manager Kyle Brown. “The PUC looked at the situation and the public interest, the outcry in LoDo, and decided it was too important to get it wrong.”
Commission chairman Joshua Epel recused himself from the deliberations because he did not join the panel until April, about two years after the permit process had begun.
Tarpey and Baker each called their decision a tough one, mostly over the uncertainty of whether Denver has too many taxis. A variety of testimony was provided during several permit hearings over the past couple of years, but no conclusive studies have been done.
Congestion an issue
The PUC in 2009 approved 300 permits for two cab companies downtown — Union and Freedom — bringing to 1,304 the number of taxis in the city. Metro holds the most permits, with 492, followed by Yellow, with 300.
Tarpey and Baker each called “persuasive” the testimony provided by Denver parking-enforcement officials who detailed how traffic congestion was the result of too many cabs vying for too few spots at taxi stands at downtown hotels.
“Cabs would rather be downtown no matter how long the lines” at taxi stands, Tarpey said. “The market has more than it can handle.”
Calling the issue of more taxi permits “divisive and explosive,” Mayor Guillermo “Bill” Vidal wrote the commission in May, asking it to deny Liberty and Yellow Cab until a task force of taxi companies and hotel administrators can work out some of the chronic congestion problems downtown.
Though Liberty initially had just five drivers willing to pony up the $6,000 buy-in it required to join, it now has more than 30, according to documents filed with the commission.
Additionally, it said it had more than $600,000 in financial commitments, though not all of it was certain.
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com
