Partying on New Year's Eve?

Take a Taxi… or maybe not!

New Year's Eve is close at hand and many who are trying to be responsible celebrants figure they will be able take a taxi to and from their party destinations. It only makes sense, given the stronger enforcement of DWI laws and the extreme penalties that are associated with same. Drinking and driving can have a profound negative effect on your driving privileges, and possibly your livelihood. The penalties include a night in jail, fines of $700 and more, loss of drivers license for a period of time, and increased auto insurance. By comparison, a $20 cab ride is a bargain. It has also become socially unacceptable to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so more and more people are turning to taxis as their mode of transportation for an evening's revelry.

If you will be doing your New Year's partying in Duluth, chances are good that you will be able to get a cab, though there may be a wait. If you are in Superior, however, the odds of getting a cab are very slim. Duluth and Superior have separate licensing of taxicabs, and there are only three companies - Badger, Bayside and Courtesy - with a total of fewer than ten cabs licensed to operate in Superior. Some people have reported waits of several hours to get a cab in Superior, even on non-party nights.

In past years Duluth cabs were allowed to pick up fares in Superior if they got a call from there. However, an abrupt change in policy on Memorial Day weekend of this year saw a couple of Yellow Cabs suddenly cited for operating outside of Superior's taxicab ordinance. Since that time, most Duluth licensed cabs have quit picking up fares in Superior.

The reason for the sudden enforcement of the law is unclear; there was no warning from the Superior Police Department that Duluth cabs would be ticketed. According to cab company sources, the Superior City Attorney's office had agreed that Duluth cabs could pick up fares, as long as they were not soliciting fares in the southern of the Twin Ports. (One suggestion is that it was requested by Superior Mayor David Ross, who hoped to reduce the number of inebriated revelers in Soup Town by removing their safety net against driving drunk.) Whatever the reason, it will be extremely difficult to catch a cab in Superior on this traditional party weekend. Designated Drivers will be the reasonable way to assure a ride home after a long night of alcohol-fueled merrymaking.

Taxicab fares in Duluth are set by the City Council. In brief, it is $2.00 to start, plus 20 cents per 1/10th of a mile ($2.00 per mile). The minimum fares are higher the farther the pick up point is from downtown Duluth. For instance, the minimum from the airport or in Gary is $6.00. If you ask the driver to wait, there is an additional charge of 50 cents per minute ($30.00 per hour).

The City of Superior leaves fares up to the individual cab companies, and they are generally a little higher than the rates charged in Duluth. At least one Superior cab company was adding a $4.00 "fuel surcharge" to all fares when gasoline prices went up earlier this year.

Be kind to your taxi driver

Cab drivers are usually not employees of the cab company, but independent contractors who make their income by leasing a taxi from the company. The cab company provides a safe running vehicle, and "sales leads," the calls for rides. The driver gets a percentage of the fare, usually about 40 percent. About 20 percent of the fare goes for gas, and the other 40 percent goes to the taxi company to cover their expenses. Fares alone do not supply much of an income for cab drivers, often less than five dollars per hour. Much like wait persons and bartenders, they rely primarily on tips to eke out their living. Tips for cab drivers should generally be about 20 to 30 percent of the fare, with extra added for having the driver assist with packages or wheel chairs, or if the driver had to wait before the fare started.

Some common taxi cab courtesy:

Don't keep the driver waiting. Since the driver does not make an hourly wage, time is money and when the cab is empty and not moving the driver is not making any money. The quicker he can pick you up and get you to your destination, the sooner he can get to his next fare. Most drivers will wait only ten minutes from the time they get the call before moving on to the next call.

Don't overload the car. Insurance companies go into paroxysms over this one. No more bodies than there are available seat belts. In most cars, that means a maximum of four people. If the taxi is a van or limo and has more seats, then one person per seat. The added weight severely affects the suspension and handling of the car. For any number of safety reasons, don't ask to overload a cab.

If you call a cab from a suburban or rural location, the driver has a larger investment in time and gas expense, so be there when the taxi shows up. Here's an example: The cab company gets a call from The Runway Bar in Hermantown. That's six miles from downtown, so the driver spends about 15 minutes to get there plus a couple of dollars in gas. Because of this, the cab companies have established a minimum fare from that area of six to eight dollars. The driver waits the minimum of ten minutes, then heads back downtown. That irresponsible customer can cost the driver 20 to 30 minutes of his time, plus several dollars in gas.

Duluth Taxi Companies

Allied Taxi (722-3311) - "The Great White Fleet" will have nine cabs on the road for New Years. They are licensed only in Duluth and will not pick up any fares in Superior.

Cab-A-Ray (940-TAXI) - Ray Krahl spent several years in the people transport business, as a cab driver for Allied and Yellow and driving a senior citizens bus, before starting his own taxi company with a single Cadillac in July, 2004. He will be adding a third Cadillac cab to the fleet for New Year's Eve. As to picking up fares in Superior, Krahl said, "The way I read the laws on Interstate commerce, I can pick up wherever I get a call. We're not going to sit on a corner in Superior and wait for someone to walk up, but if we get a call there, we'll take it."

Custom Cab (341-9711) - Custom Cab is a newcomer to the Duluth area, and offers the unique service of Cadillac limousines at taxi cab rates. As a result, Custom can carry more people than the average cab. They have a pair of Cadillac limos and a Lincoln that operate in Duluth.

Twin Ports Taxi (310-3090) - Twin Ports has a pair of dark green Ford Crown Vics, and both will be available on New Year's.

Yellow Cab of Duluth (727-1515) - Yellow is the largest cab company in the Twin Ports, with 20 licenses in Duluth. They project having 16 cabs available for customers in Duluth on New Year's Eve. Yellow is not licensed in Superior and will not accept any fares from there.

Superior Taxi Companies

Badger Taxi (394-5555) - Badger is licensed only in Superior. They will have two or three cabs available for New Year's Eve.

Bayside Taxi [] - We were unable to reach Bayside for this survey, but it it believed they have two cabs available, both vans.

Courtesy Cab (590-9222) - Courtesy's president, Rick Preston, says all five of their cabs will be on the streets. Their cabs are all vans, so can accommodate up to six passengers, plus the driver. Courtesy claims to be the only cab company licensed in both Duluth and Superior.

Tim Winker is a freelance automotive writer who lives west of Twig. He has supplemented his income during times of freelance drought by driving a taxi for Diamond Taxi and Yellow Cab of Duluth.