2014 year in review - taxicab limousine and paratransit … · 2016. 3. 25. · • work to include...

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it No. 870

2014 YEAR IN REVIEW

SAVE THE DATES! (www.tlpa.org)TLPA SPRING CONFERENCE & EXPO/ TPAC Annual ConventionApril 29 – May 2, 2015Westin Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego, CA

Autonomous Vehicles and Taxi (apps) in Spotlight at TRB

Serious Business: The Hiring Process

Is the Paratransit Industry Using the Best Service Model?

Driver Stuck with Expensive Uber-Arranged Lease After Getting “Deactivated”

Preparing for the Fight in 2015

Association News

2014 Year in Review–Robbie Werth’s Year as TLPA President

By Harold Morgan

On October 30, 2013 at the TLPA 95th Annual Convention & Trade Show in Boston, Robbie Werth, Diamond Transportation Services, Springfield, VA, became the president of the TLPA.

In his speech in Boston, Robbie discussed the challenges facing the for-hire transportation industry from transportation network companies such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar that choose which passengers to pick up, which neighborhoods to serve, and which do not submit to the same oversight as licensed carriers in terms of driver background checks, insurance, or wheelchair accessibility. Robbie urged TLPA members, “to push back against this tide of rogue transportation providers”. He said, “Rally your businesses and communities to innovate. Fight for the rights of the licensed, regulated TLPA carriers. Together, we need to fight the battle of our lives for our companies and our communities.”

October 2013–January 2014In early January, the three TLPA Division Steering Committees met in

Tampa, Florida to set their recommended priorities for the TLPA work program in 2014.

The Key Taxicab Steering Committee Requests Included:

• Identify new and emerging threats and develop appropriate industry responses—Uber, Lyft, Sidecar are threats to the taxicab industry;

• Education of TLPA members as to the ben-efits of incorporating technology such as mobile apps, electronic distribution channels (e.g., global distribu-tion systems (GDS), corporate booking tools, partner web sites), and social media into their business;

• Monitoring tax options that may be con-sidered to fund the next transportation authoriza-tion legislation;

• Work with Congress to define “one-touch response” fleet management systems as not being classified as texting devices;

• Ensure the continuance of the independent contractor status for the private for-hire ground transportation industry; and

• Oppose any effort to pass federal legislation that expedites or otherwise hinders management’s rights or ability to effectively present its case in unioniz-ing efforts or negotiations.

The Key Paratransit Steering Committee Priorities Were:• Work to maintain the federal legislative achievements of the TLPA in

SAFETEA-LU and MAP-21 in the Reauthorization of MAP-21;• Monitor adverse activity undertaken at the federal level on behalf of

Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, or any other “rogue app operator” and develop strategies to counteract any proposed negative actions;

• Work to include an exemption for the taxicab, limousine and paratransit industries in conjunction with any legislation or regulatory actions dealing with distracted driving and the elimination of texting in motor vehicles for hire;

The TLPA Taxicab Steering Committee met at the TLPA Spring Conference & Expo held in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2014.

Continued on page 12

8 Transportation Leader Winter 2015

On October 30, 2013 at the TLPA 95th Annual Convention & Trade Show, in Boston Robbie Werth, Diamond Transportation Services, Springfield, VA, became the president of the TLPA

The TLPF has two major projects it is concentrating its efforts on: the History Project and the Transportation On Patrol (TOP) program.

The History Project is a key Foundation initiative. In 2009, the Foundation Board voted to fund a program to capture the history of our industry. The process was started by engaging the Memory Factory of Miami, Florida, to interview and film many TLPA Past Presidents and industry stalwarts who were willing to be interviewed. The Foundation also requested that TLPA members loan the Association some of their industry memorabilia to be incorporated into the video project. Everything went so well with the history video the first year that TLPF decided to expand the project by adding a TLPA promo video to the project. The Memory Factory has attended a number of TLPA meetings over the past six years conducting interviews with members willing to share the his-tories of their companies, how they, themselves, became involved in the for-hire ground transportation industry and the history of their involvement with TLPA. (Note, anyone reading this article who wishes to assist the Memory Factory and the Foundation in these projects can do so by loaning us your old photographs, videos and memorabilia that are taxicab, limousine or paratransit related. We promise you, we will take good care of your possessions and return them to you promptly.) This is an ongoing project that TLPF plans to continue for several more years.

Several years ago Martin Zilber made a substantial donation to the Foundation to establish the Zilber Fund with the stipulation that all mon-ies dispersed from this fund go toward funding a scholarship. The Foundation board decided it would be appropriate to let the host operator tour provider from our annual convention site choose the scholarship recipient. At the TLPA Convention in San Antonio, TLPF President Rick Hewatt presented a check for $1,000 to Mario Rebledo, Call Center Manager for Yellow Cab of San Antonio. Mario attends San Antonio College and will use the check to help with the cost of his education.

The other key TLPF program is the Transportation on Patrol program. The TOP program was launched in 2011 by then TLPA President Robert McBride. Denver and the communities that comprise the surrounding met-ropolitan area continue to be the flagship of the TOP program. In 2012 the

Denver Taxis on Patrol, based at Metro Taxi, worked with 34 different law enforcement agencies, initiating 501 calls which demanded law enforce-ment and/or emergency personnel attention. After the start up of the TOP Program in Denver, a number of TLPA member companies have imple-mented the program. If you are interested in set-ting up a TOP program that adds additional eyes and ears on the streets of your community contact Hal Morgan at TLPA for more information. In addition to helping your city combat crime, a TOP program is a public relations win for a company and the city it operates in. n

Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Foundation (TLPF)

By Harold Morgan

Association News

Financially, the Foundation started off modestly with a small con-tribution from the TLPA in 1987. Then, in 1990, TLPF received a very gener-ous contribution from the estate of long-time TLPA member Herman R. Tate of California to establish a col-lege scholarship program for students committed to enter the taxicab busi-ness and to sponsor public policy research to promote our industry. It has been the interest from Mr. Tate’s nearly half million-dollar contribution and on-going contributions from TLPA members that has given the Foundation a sufficient corpus to generate interest income to support its annu-al projects and programs. For many years, the key fund-raising event for the Foundation was the Annual TLPF—Gateway Insurance Golf Tournament. In recent years, the key fund-raising event for the Foundation, and kick-off event for the whole convention, has been the TLPF—Atlas Financial Holdings Annual Golf Tournament. In San Antonio, the tournament was held on Wednesday October 15, at the Canyon Springs Golf Club. The tournament is a tremendous amount of fun and a painless way for members to support the Foundation. We hope many of you will join us this year at our tournament in Las Vegas n


• Continue to protect private operator rights to participate in the planning and provision of service to the maximum extent feasible in the Reauthorization; and

• Continue to work to make private operators eligible to be direct recipients of FTA grants under any Consolidated Human Service Transportation Programs including private operator participation in the Section 5310 program, i.e., Lease of vehicles: Vehicles purchased with Section 5310 funds may be leased to local public bodies or agencies, non-profit agencies, or private-for-profit operators only for the services identified in the grant application.

The Key Limousine Steering Committee Recommendations Included:

• Monitor and respond to Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar threats to the licensed for-hire vehicle industry. The Committee noted that this issue is, by a wide margin, the most important matter facing TLPA members in 2014;

• Work with Congress to define “one-touch response” fleet management systems as not being classified as texting devices for distracted driv-ing purposes;

• Identify new and emerging threats and develop appropriate industry responses, including monitoring and reporting on activities in Congress and the U.S. DOT that could have a positive or nega-tive impact on the members of TLPA;

• Support the development of federal, state and local incentive programs to encourage the adop-tion of alternative fuels and/or accessible vehicles by private for-hire ground transportation fleets;

• Work to have the U.S. Department of Transportation standardize fees that airports can assess to local, for-hire vehicle companies licensed to serve the airport; and

• Implement an education pro¬gram for members on how to comply with the Affordable Healthcare Act.

The TLPA Executive Committee MeetingThe week after the meetings of the divi-

sion steering committees, the TLPA Executive Committee led by President Werth, met to set the work program for TLPA for 2014. It opened with a discussion on the importance of our industry staying unified in its approach to legal, regulatory and legisla-tive issues confronting it and the need for President Werth and all board members to reach out to build and maintain unity. President-Elect Mike Fogarty, Chair of the App Subcommittee on Legal/Regulatory Issues, reported that the Subcommittee selected law firms to be retained. Vice President Bill Scalzi report-


Continued from page 8

Association News

ed for the App Member Education Subcommittee and discussed a paper on regulatory and operational changes that operators should consider to improve their services. The committee anticipated making a major presentation at the TLPA Spring Conference & Expo in Fort Lauderdale. Immediate Past President Bill Rouse, Chair of the App PR Subcommittee, reported that they had selected a PR firm to represent TLPA in expanding its traditional media, social media and web presence in our battle with unregulated app operators. John Boit, CEO of Melwood Global, was present to walk the committee through the full scope of work that Melwood Global and the social media firm they have partnered with would be implemented starting on February 1, 2014. The committee mem-bers asked questions and expressed strong confidence in this program. The Executive Committee and the App Committee subsequently met with the expanded PR team on February 11 to finalize plans for launch-ing TLPA’s new Who’s Driving You? campaign and its website and social media components. The com-mittee reviewed the various unlicensed transporta-tion app companies operating in North America and agreed that TLPA should focus its efforts at this point on getting Uber (especially its service uberX), Lyft and Sidecar to come into full compliance with local for-hire passenger transportation public safety and licensing requirements. The committee members dis-cussed the need to develop a quick response team of operators to provide peer-to-peer advice on opposing unregulated transportation companies.

February 2014–May 2014In February, TLPA launched its Who’s Driving

You? campaign to counteract the misinforma-tion spread by Uber, Lyft and Sidecar and to help passengers with concerns about these unlicensed transportation companies. The campaign creates the first-ever national incident report system to help passengers with bad experiences register complaints. Who’s Driving You? is one part information portal for those seeking facts about the rise of the so-called “ridesharing” industry, and one part help desk for passengers concerned about the ugly side of Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. “Whatever these companies, their CEOs, or their Wall Street or Hollywood investors say in public tends to be taken as the gospel truth, and that’s just not the case,” said Robbie Werth, President of the TLPA. “They say they are simply technology companies—yet they are taxi companies. They say they are insured—yet refuse to take respon-sibility for accidents. They say their drivers are prop-erly screened—yet time and again we see convicted felons behind the wheel. We’ve had enough.”



Year in Review— TLPA Meetings in 2014

By Harold Morgan

TLPA held three very successful meetings in 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and San Antonio, Texas. Following are brief summaries of our 2014 meetings.

2014 TLPA Spring Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FLIt was TLPA’s second largest Spring Conference & Expo in the 37-year his-

tory of holding a spring meeting when 380 people attended the TLPA Spring Conference & Expo in Fort Lauderdale from May 8-10, 2014. It included a sold out Exhibition with 52 exhibitors. TLPA President Robbie Werth welcomed attendees to Fort Lauderdale and gave special thanks to the host operators, Jesse and Susan Gaddis of Yellow Cab of Broward County. He provided a list of the key challenges facing our industry: unlicensed taxicab operators, enhancing customer service, the next FTA reauthorization bill, the TLPA driver education program, the repeal of Section 5333(b), aka (13-c) of the Federal Transit Act, broker trends, how to use social media, technology in the vehicles (i.e., taxi and limousine apps), and regulatory issues for taxi, limousine and paratransit. He gave an in-depth report on the Association’s battle against unlicensed transportation companies and introduced the chairs leading the App Public Relations, Legal/Regulatory, Federal Legislation and Member Education efforts to provide addi-tional information to attendees. Adding to the Spring Conference were contribu-tions from event sponsors including T-Mobile, the Premier Conference Sponsor, the Gold Conference Sponsors: Creative Mobile Technologies, MTData, Capital One Bank, Taxi Magic, and TaxiCharge, the Silver Event Sponsors: Mobile Knowledge and TransCast; and the Bronze Sponsors: American Business Insurance, Nexus Taxi Software, and VeriFone.

One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of the first-ever TLPA Lifetime Achievement Award to long-time TLPA Member Jesse Gaddis. In accepting the award, Mr. Gaddis stated that “The taxicab business can be traced back to 1641, and it was then, and still is, about serving people.” He said that to be a successful taxicab operator, you have to know lots about other busi-nesses. He praised his family and staff and talked about his long relationship with TLPA and its support of the TLPA members. The conference concluded on Saturday afternoon with the operator’s tour of Yellow Cab of Broward County, Go Airport Shuttle and Go Executive Car.

TLPA Mid-Year International Leadership ConferenceNearly 80 TLPA members met for an intense, yet pleasurable three days

of meetings in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 16-18. The Conference attend-ees benefited from the support of Taxi Magic, which sponsored the Welcome Cocktail Reception and Centrodyne, which sponsored the Conference audio visual and meeting room. The meeting began with a meeting of the TLPA Board of Directors where the Board reviewed the finances of the association. It was noted that the fight with unlicensed transportation companies such as Uber and Lyft was not going away. Members debated on how to fund the on-going battle in 2015. The decision was made to move forward with a new dues structure. The Board then proceeded to review the continuing TLPA efforts to combat unli-censed transportation.

Thursday began with a group breakfast followed by the General Session. President Robbie Werth welcomed everyone to the conference, introduced our host operator, Dominick Roy of Taxi Diamond Montreal and promoted the

Association News


TLPA Mid-Year International Leadership Conference held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 16-18, 2014.


TLPA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Jesse Gaddis by 2014 TLPA President Robbie Werth.

2014 TLPA President-Elect Mike Fogarty gave TLPA members an App Litigation update.

trips per day from one of the quietest call centers members had ever visited. Raffi noted that on New Year’s Eve from 7:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m., their call center had dispatched more than 24,000 trips. The company also dispatches about 350 paratransit trips per day. Mr. Roy and his wife Isabelle were on hand to greet all the attendees, answer questions, and offer refreshments.

TLPA 96th Annual Convention & Trade Show—The Battle Line Is Drawn

For the first time in almost 40 years, the TLPA Annual Convention & Trade Show returned to the great State of Texas. There were many comments about the energy and the high level of interest and participation exhibited by the 845 transportation industry leaders from across America and around the globe in attendance at the Grand Hyatt and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, October 15-18. This year’s convention, the tenth largest in our history, featured 27 educational sessions of important topics affecting the industry, a sold out trade show with 101 vendors, the elec-tion of our new president Michael J. Fogarty and a tour of Yellow Cab of San Antonio’s state-of-the-art transportation facility. The key highlight of the Convention, which had many great moments, was the introduction of the mini documentary—4 Uber Myths Debunked. A product of TLPA’s Who’s Driving You Campaign, the film takes direct aim at key falsehoods that Uber and other so-called “ridesharing” services employ to deceive communities, elected officials, pas-sengers and drivers. Members were asked to evaluate and critique the documentary. An overwhelming number requested that the film be released for public viewing as soon as possible, and since its release it has been viewed more than 90,000 times.

On Thursday morning October 16, the Annual Convention opened with an operator tour hosted by Yellow Cab of San Antonio. About 200 convention attendees went on the tour. The educational seg-ment of the convention opened with the ever-popular Roundtable discussions. There were 16 topics covered during these sessions. The best attended roundtables were What Is Your Company’s Experience with the App(s) It Uses?; How to Grow Your Business & Build Customer Loyalty with an App; Call Center Improvements You Should Make; Driver Recruitment & Retention in a Competitive Environment; Speed of Service Improvement Practices; and Apps Employ Surge Pricing—Should Taxis Have Fare Flexibility?

TLPA President Robert Werth began the Opening General Session on Thursday afternoon by welcoming attendees and then he introduced

tour of Mr. Roy’s operations on Friday. President Werth then addressed the Industry Priorities and Challenges: unlicensed (and in many cases illegal) transportation network companies, enhancing cus-tomer service, the next transit reauthorization bill, repeal of Section 5333(b) labor protections, i.e., (13c), one touch mobile data terminal exemption, passage of the PASS Act, broker trends, how to use social media, technology in the vehicles, and the TLPA Taxicab Driver Education Program. He focused his remarks on the battle against unlicensed taxicab companies.

President Werth said TLPA is stating a clear message to regulators and elected officials as to what is needed to ensure a level playing field to ensure fair competition including all operators having pri-mary commercial automobile liability insurance; law enforcement background checks—not third party vendor searches; motor vehicle record checks; vehicle inspections; non-discriminatory service; and payment of local fees and taxes.

Matthew Daus, President of the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR) spoke about the IATR Rideshare Company Insurance Issues Advisory dated May 30, 2014. He stated, “Many ‘rideshare’ companies have been operating in states taking advantage of perceived loopholes in local laws to circumvent common sense regulations that protect the public, drivers and others. Although they pur-port to provide ‘ridesharing’ services, the business model of these companies is in direct violation of any traditional definition or understanding of true ride-sharing. ‘Ridesharing’ is the term used to describe grouping travelers into common trips by car or van through carpooling or vanpooling. At its outset, ridesharing did not, and was not intended to result in financial gain for the driver. The purpose of ride-sharing was based on the common origin and/or des-tinations between passengers. The fact that money is exchanged for the ‘rideshare’ company’s services transforms the transportation into a commercial/for-hire enterprise requiring appropriate commercial insurance coverage.”

The morning portion of the General Session concluded with a presentation from Michael Stiegel, Esq., from the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Stiegel spoke on the topic, Illinois App Litigation, Regulation and Legislation. After a well-received group lunch, Mr. Stiegel answered a number of questions from the audi-ence. This Q&A was followed by a presentation on the topic, App Legislation and New State Regulations. On Friday morning, meeting attendees visited the facilities of our host operator, Dominick Roy of Taxi Diamond Montreal. Diamond Taxi Montreal operates about 1200 taxicabs. It dispatches 10,000

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Year in Review—TLPA Meetings in 2014


Transportation Leader Winter 2015 19

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In April, President Werth spoke to the New England Livery Association (NELA) and the Taxicab Paratransit Association of California (TPAC) annual conferences. He continued to issue a call to action for the licensed for-hire industry to stay united in the effort to turn back the assault from Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and others to convert licensed for-hire transportation service into unli-censed and irresponsible service where anyone with a private car can pro-vide transportation service via an app. He told NELA and TPAC, “We must stand together to make sure the public, elected officials and regulators do not forget about proper licensing, primary commercial vehicle insurance, public safety, police conducted driver background checks, regulator conducted vehicle inspection, accessibility and service to the entire commu-nity. Unlicensed service allows both drivers and dispatch companies to evade accountability and even liability.” He outlined how TLPA has stepped up to take the lead in fighting unlicensed transportation network companies.

• Public Relations: TLPA’s Who’s Driving You? website has had over 12,000 unique visi-tors, our Facebook page had nearly 500 likes, our Twitter account had over 1,100 engagements, we issued press releases, made blog posts, and conduct-ed dozens of media interviews.

• Legal: TLPA published our first legal report that was titled Dangerous Details in the Fine Print: How Uber, Lyft and Sidecar Are Shifting Risk and Avoiding Responsibility.

• Operations & Technology: The subcom-mittee would present their findings on regulatory and operational changes that operators should con-sider to improve their services at the TLPA Spring Conference & Expo held May 8-11, 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

President Werth stated, “We have made great progress in our public awareness campaign on the federal, state and local levels. Each day presents a new battlefront. By the end of this year, it is likely to be clear whether we earned outright victory, made reasonable compromises or were forced into unreasonable compromises. Suffering outright defeat is not an option. We need for you to do your part to save the future of your business. That means you providing timely service, with a safe and polite driver, in a clean and inspected vehicle, at

a reasonable price that can be paid by cash, credit card or on account. We must all be moving towards making these transactions seamless. It also means we need for you to review the materials at the Who’s Driving You? sites. This is the battle of our lifetime to save our industry. I am energized and I believe we are going to win. I hope you agree and that you will fully support this effort through the service delivered by your company and TLPA.”

On May 5, a day before the TLPA Spring Conference and Expo in Fort Lauderdale, President Werth accompa-nied by TLPA EVP Hal Morgan and legislative counsel met with Matthew Welbes, the Executive Director of the Federal Transit Administration to discuss TLPA transportation reauthorization issues and concerns that transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft were avoid-

ing their responsibilities and obligations under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The meeting was very positive and led to follow up communications between TLPA and the FTA.

TLPA Spring Conference & ExpoThe TLPA Spring Conference and Expo was

held in Fort Lauderdale May 8-11. During the meeting, President Werth provided an outline of the key objectives in the TLPA Strategic Plan and gave an in-depth report on the Association’s battle against unlicensed transportation network com-panies. He noted that the TLPA App Committee recommended strategic responses to combat unli-censed transportation operators including requir-ing 7/24/365 commercial insurance; preventing street hails, disability issues; mandates or voluntary accessible taxicab service; surge pricing; innovative services to the entire community; and destroy-ing the myths (lack of innovation, cartels, legacy industry). President Werth also noted that TLPA had countered pro-Uber statements made by a U.S. Senator by issuing media responses and by meeting with a variety of elected leaders in the House and Senate. President Werth stated that the Association is working to include an exemption for the taxicab, limousine and paratransit industries in conjunction with any legislation or regulatory actions deal-ing with distracted driving and the elimination of texting in motor vehicles for hire; for the repeal





2014 TLPA President Robbie Werth met with U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA).



Association News

of 13(c), now known as 5333(b) FTA labor protec-tion provisions by supporting a bill, H.R. 2537, introduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey (GA). (See TLPA Meetings in 2014 article for more details).

June 2014–October 2014The men and women who volunteer their

time to serve TLPA on division steering commit-tees, as members of the TLPA and TLPF Board of Directors and as officers do so while running their own company businesses. The TLPA President has to spend an enormous amount of time on TLPA business, and Robbie Werth was no exception. During his year in office, Robbie had more than 20 personal face-to-face meetings on Capitol Hill with Senate and House members or their staffs. In June alone, he met with several members of the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss unlicensed trans-portation network companies.

On Monday, July 7, Robbie Werth, TLPA CEO Al LaGasse and TLPA Legislative Counsel Paul Miller met with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to discuss unlicensed for-hire transportation compa-nies and their impacts on local communities.

In addition, to his Capitol Hill visits President Werth participated in a number of media inter-views on the efforts of unlicensed transporta-tion network companies to evade accountability and liability. Robbie’s interviews appeared on the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), Washington, DC; CBS This Morning, Washington, DC; CNBC, Washington, DC; Collegiate Times, Charlottesville, VA; Pando Daily, San Francisco, CA; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA; and The Jason Rantz Show, Seattle, WA.

Mid-Year MeetingThe TLPA Mid-Year International Leadership

Conference was held July 16-18, 2014 in the beau-

tiful city of Montreal. Under the leadership of President Werth, TLPA members spent a good portion of the TLPA Board Meeting and the entire next day in discussions and reports on the battle against unlicensed transportation network compa-nies. It was a rare instance to have the opportunity for so many industry experts and leaders to meet and be focused on one topic. A summary of these discussions can be found in the TLPA Meetings in 2014 article in this magazine.

In his address to the attendees, President Werth stated, “I am pleased to report that the last quarter has been a watershed period in our industry’s battle against these unlicensed transportation network companies. More states piled on to growing concerns by issuing insurance warnings against “ridesharing.” Uber’s frustration broke through its usually placid surface when CEO Travis Kalanick, speaking at the annual Code Conference in San Francisco in late May


U.S. Senator, John Thune (R-South Dakota) met with 2014 TLPA President Robbie Werth.


In addition, to his Capitol Hill visits President Werth participated in a number of media interviews on the efforts of unlicensed transportation network companies to evade accountability and liability.

2014 TLPA President Robert M. Werth with U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri).

Association News



the key TLPA consultants lead-ing our response to apps providing unlicensed transportation services: John Boit of Melwood Global pro-vided a public relations update; Greg Serio of Park Strategies provided an insurance update; and Paul Miller of Miller Wenhold Capitol Strategies provided a legislative update. Matthew Daus, president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators then provided an overview of the IATR response unlicensed transportation network companies (TNCs). The session concluded with the presentation of two of the three TLPA Operator of the Year Awards to Shirley Allen, Managing Member, Mercy Transportation, Everett, WA (2014 TLPA Paratransit Operator of the Year) and Bill George, Chief Executive Officer, Kansas City Transportation Group, Kansas City, MO (2014 Taxicab Operator of the Year)

After the Opening General Session, attendees enjoyed a Grand Opening of the Trade Show. This year’s Trade Show was one of TLPA’s largest and received an excellent or good rating by 97.5% of the operators that responded to a post-convention survey. The first day of the convention ended with the Networking Dinner host-ed by the Women in Transportation. The event featured the presentation of the Outstanding Contributor to Women In Transportation Award to Mary Smarelli, President of Transit Express, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The second day of the convention opened with the New Member & First Time Operator Attendee Breakfast and a Continental Breakfast. When the breakfasts ended, the educational segment of the con-vention continued with eight well-attended breakout sessions. The most popular of these panel discus-sions were Innovations in Taxi Operations; Responding to Uber’s Political Machine at Cities, States and Airports; Lawsuits and Claims Against Uber and Lyft; and Innovative Paratransit Operations. The Convention’s Second General Session featured President Werth’s State of the Industry and State of TLPA Address. In his introduction of President Werth, TLPA CEO Al LaGasse praised Robbie’s dedication and willing-ness to carry the TLPA fight against Uber and Lyft

whenever the opportunity presented itself even when he was fighting a medical issue that left him physical-ly weakened. President Werth’s presentation featured TLPA’s yearlong legal, legislative and public relations battles against Uber, Lyft and other TNCs. Robbie concluded his remarks by stating, “Our work has just begun—we need to remain strong.”

The association then presented the TLPA Driver of the Year Awards to the premier paratran-sit, limousine, and taxicab drivers for 2014: Ronald Smith, Paratransit Driver of the Year, from SCR Medical Transportation, Chicago, IL; Syed Islam, Chauffeur of the Year, from GO Executive Car Service, Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Gerardo Gamboa, Taxicab Driver of the Year, from Checker Cab, Las Vegas, NV.

The Second General Session continued with TLPA legislative counsel Kenneth Butler reviewing the challenges TLPA members face and the goals TLPA has set in the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill including the right of private transportation operators to compete for public trans-portation services; the elimination of federal labor protection regulations that block free enterprise; to fight against the intrusion of the federal government into local/state decision-making and to fight against the intrusion of the federal government into how TLPA members operate their businesses.

After the Second General Session, the Trade Show floor reopened featuring a fabulous lunch. The afternoon ended with a Member Appreciation Cocktail Reception on the Trade Show floor. When asked the three best elements of the trade show, the top responses were: 1) show floor plan, 2) quality/quantity of attendees, and 3) food on the exhibit floor.

The third and final day of the convention began with a continental breakfast followed by the annual Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Foundation Business Meeting. TLPF President Rick Hewatt highlighted the Foundation’s 2014 activities, featur-ing the two major projects currently under its aus-pices, the Transportation On Patrol (TOP) program and the industry History Project. He discussed the Foundation’s fund raising efforts including the kick-off event for the whole convention, the TLPF— Atlas Financial Holdings Annual Golf Tournament, held on Wednesday at the Canyon Springs Golf Club. TLPF President Hewatt said, “The tourna-ment is a tremendous amount of fun and a painless way for you to support your Foundation. I hope many of you will join us next year in Las Vegas. For those of you that don’t golf, you are more than welcome to sponsor one of the holes under your company name





for as little as $200.00. Finally, please remember the Foundation not only in your annual charitable giving, but also in your estate planning. It is a chance to give back to the industry that has made most of us a good living for many years.” He then introduced Mario Rebledo, the call center manager for Yellow Cab of San Antonio, and presented him a check from the Foundation for $1,000 to help with the cost of his education. He concluded the TLPF Business Meeting by announc-ing that Jamie Campolongo would be the new TLPF President in 2015. TLPA President Werth made the presentation of the TLPA Outstanding Industry Service Award posthumously to Reg Kermode, an exceptional international leader in the taxicab indus-try who created the great relationship TLPA has with the Australian Taxi Industry Association and was the founder, Chairman and CEO of Cabcharge. President Werth presented our third TLPA operator of the year award to Dawson Rutter, President/CEO Commonwealth Worldwide Transportation, Boston, MA (2014 TLPA Limousine Operator of the Year).

The Annual TLPA Business Meeting fea-tured the election of TLPA Officers and Directors

including: President Mike Fogarty and President-Elect Dwight Kines. The Closing General Session ended with the new TLPA President Mike Fogarty, President and CEO of American operations for the limousine company Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services outlining what he called his “ABC agenda” for the coming year to fight against so-called Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft. His agenda includes: (A) addressing industry image, (B) battling for a level playing field against illegal, unlicensed transportation services, and (C) collaborating with other associations and indus-tries. He stated, “Over the next 12 months, I fully expect the majority of TLPA leadership time and resources to be invested in our fight to end the unjust TNC business practices that threaten our hard-won livelihood and that put the public at risk,” He said. “We need to remind everyone that we are the ones that have the licensed fleets. We are the ones provid-ing safe, public, non-discriminatory service.” Fogarty concluded his remarks by stating, “It looks like the perfect storm this year, and I’m excited to be in the middle of it.” n


Index of AdvertisersAmerican Business Insurance Services .................... 11

AutoZone .................................................................. 13

BB&T John Burnham Insurance ............................... 3

Creative Mobile Technologies .................................. 5

Curb .......................................................................... 37

Digital Dispatch Systems .......................... Back Cover

Joe Chernow ............................................................. 31

Mobility Ventures ...................................................... 7

Mobility Works ...................................................20-21

MTData .......................................... Inside Back Cover

Paratransit Insurance Co. ......................................... 35

Pulsar Technology Systems, Inc. ..Inside Front Cover

Record Technologies ............................................... 17

The Atlas Group of Companies ................................ 9

VeriFone Transportation Systems ........................... 15

Association News



stated, ‘We’re in a political campaign, and the candi-date is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi.’ Five additional states issued insurance warnings against ridesharing, bringing the total number of warnings to 29 (including the District of Columbia). There are cease and desists as well as numerous law-suits all over the country. Uber saw a significant spike in negative news, with 18 percent of articles negative about Uber in June compared to 7 percent in May. California’s PUC warned Uber, Lyft and Sidecar to stop making airport runs. TLPA participated in a number of national and top-tier outlet interviews including CNN, CNBC, the Washington Post, Reuters, Bloomberg radio, the Boston Globe, and the Christian Science Monitor. President Werth concluded his remarks by stating that TLPA has launched legal, legislative, insurance, educational and public relations efforts and that TLPA members would be able to get the latest information of the war with unlicensed transpor-tation network companies by attending TLPA’s 96th Annual Convention & Trade Show in San Antonio.

The Who’s Driving You? initiative developed a mini-documentary to combat the many false claims being made by Uber. The goal was to preview the mini-documentary at the TLPA Annual Convention & Trade Show in San Antonio. The video was devel-oped by our PR teams. The documentary combines five strong interviews together to form a narrative that is both informational and engaging. The objec-tive was to make the video informative and valuable for riders, drivers and policy makers. Released by TLPA’s Who’s Driving You? Campaign, the mini-doc-umentary titled, “4 Uber Myths Debunked” explores critical questions. Is “ridesharing” safe? Who are amateur UberX drivers and are they properly screened for criminal backgrounds? Do they have proper insurance and what happens when inevitable accidents occur? Are riders in danger?

The video was very well received at our TLPA Annual Convention in San Antonio after which it was released to the public where it was been viewed more than 90,000 times. For anyone who has not watched it and shared it with elected officials, pas-

sengers and drivers, a link to the video follows. Visit YouTube.com and search for Four Things About Uber You Wish You Never Knew.

Summary of Legislative and Media EffortsPresident Werth stated, “We are facing the

greatest industry challenge of our generation and we are meeting it head-on.”

Robbie participated in 26 personal face to face meetings with U.S. Senate and House members. He partook in 7 media interviews on television, radio and newsprint. WhosDrivingYou? web site—Averaged more than 5,000 unique visitor’s views each month

http://www.whosdriv-ingyou.org/)—It includes an Uber/Lyft/Sidecar Incident Report; a Blog, Press Releases, Media Articles, Fact Sheets, Reports, and Passenger Comments. Our PR team has participated in more than 500 new articles, TV broadcasts and radio pieces since “WhosDrivingYou?” went active in February 2014.

TLPA’s Message—TNC’s must meet the following standards: pri-mary commercial auto-mobile liability insurance

24/7, law enforcement background checks, motor vehicle driver record checks, vehicle inspections, non-discriminatory service, and payment of local fees and taxes.

In addition to responding to the TNC crisis, President Werth did not lose sight of the other chal-lenges facing our industry: helping members enhance customer service, the reauthorization of MAP-21, the transportation reauthorization legislation including the repeal of the Section 5333(b) labor protection pro-visions, the one touch mobile data terminal exemption (one-touch response), promoting the TLPA Online Taxicab Driver Education Program, and promoting the TLPA Community Connections Program which had 10% of TLPA members reporting that they had contributed more than $2 million in FY 2014, a 31% increase of what was reported in 2013.

President Werth concluded his remarks in San Antonio with a quotation from Winston Churchill, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the cour-age to continue that counts.” n

U.S. Senator, Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) met with 2014 TLPA President Robbie Werth.


2014 year in review - taxicab limousine and paratransit … · 2016. 3. 25. · • work to include...

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