A Piney Flats taxi company wanting to set up shop in Johnson City is under investigation for allegedly operating here without a license and for scooping up customers from established, and now agitated owners and drivers.
Reliable Taxi and Delivery Services’ petition to the City Commission last week for a Vehicle for Hire Certification drew immediate rumblings from operators, owners and employees of two of the city’s three taxi companies, including allegations that the company is responding to the other company’s calls and that the market already is saturated.
After listening to complaints and allegations, commissioners unanimously voted to defer certification. They also instructed Johnson City Police Chief Mark Sirois to look into the claims.
“I’ve assigned an investigator who will be interviewing the people that made the allegations,” he said. “We also will be looking to see if they have violated city code. Once this is complete, we will report back to the City Commission.”
There are three licensed operators in town: WW Cab Co., Trinity Taxi and ACE Taxi Co.
“They’re still trying to operate here,” Charles Stanley, WW day shift manager, said Monday about Reliable. “I’ve had to call in two or three complaints since the (commission) meeting. One of their drivers has applied with us. She said on her application that she worked for them for three days and that they didn’t pay her a dime. She also said she’d been handing out business cards.”
Trinity Taxi owner Terry Carroll stepped forward last week and told commissioners she opposed the new company starting up in Johnson City because “the market here was already saturated.”
The Johnson City Press published a story on Trinity when it opened its doors in July of last year.
“Everybody and their brother needs a cab at some point,” Carroll said at the time from the company’s home base at 91 Wilson Ave. “WW has stayed in business because there’s always been a need. Plus, the more companies there are the more choices people have.”
Carroll also said in July that following some research about the business, she found that there was one taxicab company for every 10,000-20,000 people in Tennessee.
“The population here is over 60,000,” she said. “So statistically, Johnson City is short on cab companies.”
Chapter 16 of the City Code requires anyone operating a vehicle for hire to hold a certificate following approval by the City Commission. It also is illegal to engage in the transfer or transportation of passengers for hire in the city to solicit any person upon the public sidewalks of the city for patronage.
City Code also states that any person who willfully violates these provisions will be charged with a misdemeanor. If convicted, the first offense will cost violators $25; the second offense constitutes a $50 fine.
“Johnson City does not need another cab company,” WW Cab Co. driver Walter Whaley Jr. told commissioners last week. “And, these guys are coming to Johnson City and soliciting business. We’ll go to a call, and there will be one of their cabs.”
WW, which are the initials of owner Walter Whaley, has been doing business in Johnson City at 128 Commerce St. since 1982. The city is purchasing the property and helping the business relocate through a condemnation and acquisition process by which the city will use the property to help remedy downtown flooding problems. The new address will be 321 W. Main St.
Reliable’s co-owners Larry Deaton and Travis Mullins do hold a license to operate in Sullivan County, but they also have set up camp at 802 Buffalo St., suite 11. One condition of obtaining certification is having a Johnson City location. Both formerly drove for WW.
ACE Taxi owner Paul Cox works out of the same building, and Mullins said Cox was willing to speak on Reliable’s behalf the next time the matter is officially discussed.
There on Monday sat the company’s three-vehicle fleet: a Ford Taurus, Saturn Ion and Dodge Caravan. The company has three full-time and two-part-time drivers, according to Deaton.
“The only time I come in (to Johnson City) is when they call me,” Deaton said. “If everything goes through with the city, we’re going to get another cab and two more drivers. Our rates are low, and we already have 30 to 40 regular customers in Johnson City.
“We’ve seen Trinity park near our location here. They’re keeping an eye on us. I’d like to see the 911 records that show complaints. We could be out there working.”