Shunning Bandit Taxis Could Help Licensed Cabs
The taxi cab feature (“Cabbies Taking On New Cargo,” Oct. 23) may sound a positive note with respect to the alternate services cabs can provide. But it still begs the question of why legitimate city-authorized taxi drivers cannot sustain themselves on just simply transporting passengers. It is something that should have been addressed.
A substantial portion of taxi business is siphoned by so-called bandit taxi drivers who are unlicensed, unauthorized, untrained and uninsured. Our drivers would not be driven to blood transport and messenger services if it were not for bandit operations on city streets.
It may be of greater help to the taxi industry, and indeed to Los Angeles citizenry, if the Times were to feature a list of authorized cabs, logos and colors verses those of the bandit variety and, by so doing, relieve the honest cabbies from having to scurry around for the few paltry messenger and blood transport jobs.
NATHAN L. CHROMAN, LOS ANGELES
The writer is president of the Transportation Commission of the City of Los Angeles.
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