ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

May 23, 2011

VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more

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BIG STORY HAIL, LAS VEGAS! By Richard N. Velotta F | 23 MAY 2011 | or millions of tourists who visit Las Vegas every year, the first person they meet after getting off the plane is one of the city’s unofficial ambassadors to the world—a taxi driver, 9,500 of whom work in Clark County. The men and women who work for the 16 cab companies under nine owners can set the whole tone of the trip. Will visitors get an informative driver who not only knows the history, all the quirky personalities of Las Vegas, and every great restaurant, hideaway and hot spot in town? Or will they get some dishonest tool looking to make a few quick bucks by driving them to the Golden Nugget by way of St. Rose Parkway? Will they get somebody who is courteous, friendly and doesn’t smell bad, or somebody who neither knows and nor cares that they can’t charge people for transporting their bags? One of the reasons the taxi business became a regulated industry in Clark County in 1969 is that the state of Nevada wanted to keep tabs on all of these ambassadors. But over the years, the industry has gotten lost like a wayward cabbie with a busted GPS. Charles Harvey became the Taxicab Authority’s newest administrator this month, the seventh in a dozen years. Based on the number of regular dust- ups at monthly board meetings, he’s got his work cut out for him. There are issues galore on the board’s future agendas. But Harvey and his inexperienced authority board can make a huge difference in the functionality and the perception of the taxi industry with a few quick fixes. Here are four logical, doable things the board and its staff can do to change the landscape. And, as a bonus, I’ll add one more idea that isn’t quite as simple, but could be an effective cure to what ails the local taxi industry. 27 We solved it! The decades-long crisis enveloping our city’s taxis can be fixed in five quick steps. No, really.

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