Feelings Mixed on Cab Hailing Plan

Diana Lebowitz says she feels like she spends her life waiting for cabs.

"You have and Four Two’s car service, but no matter when you call, it's a long wait," said Lebowitz, 80, of Bayside, who called Four Two’s after food shopping at Walbaum’s in the Bay Terrace shopping center.

A cab pulled up and Lebowitz headed toward it, but it wasn't for her. It was for another woman outside Walbaum’s who Lebowitz said she gave the cab number to after she herself called first.

“It’s frustrating, I’ve been standing here for 15 minutes already,” Lebowitz said, adding that if she could just hail a cab it would be easier.

Baysiders like Lebowitz have mixed feelings about a Taxi and Limousine Commission plan to implement a street hail taxi service in the outer boroughs.

The proposal, first made by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his State of the City address, will add 6,000 metered taxis to the outer boroughs and Upper Manhattan starting July 2012, if approved by Governor Andrew Cuomo. These taxis will have a dual purpose; they can be hailed from the street and called for pick up.

Two car services, one in Bayside and one in Whitestone, currently offer dispatch service to the Bayside area. While some residents said that these services meet the community's needs, other residents are ready to hail a cab.

A street hail service could have its downsides as well, Lebowitz said.

"Sometimes you can't even hail a cab in the city. Between 3 and 4 p.m. it's almost impossible," she said.

Other residents were unsure if a street hail taxi service would benefit the community.

“I don’t think people could use a hail service in this area, they are doing fine with what they have. Most people use car services,” said Nancy Russo, who lives in Bayside.

Many residents in Bayside also own cars or take busses, lowering the need for a street hail cab service, said Ashley Stein, 22, of Oakland Gardens.

"In Bayside specifically, I don’t know if it would be helpful,” Stein said. “The big area people are coming into is Bell Blvd. by the railroad station, and Kelly’s cabs and a bus stop are right there.”

Though it is a busy area, Frank Peluso, 31, said Bell Blvd. might not be busy enough for more cabs.

“I doubt street hail cabs would have a place here,” he said after making a request for a cab at Kelly’s Car Service on Bell Blvd. “It’s not as concentrated an area as Manhattan.”

Representatives from the Taxi and Limousine Commission introduced the proposal at a Community Board 11 meeting on Monday, Oct. 3. They explained to board members and residents how a street hail taxi service could be a faster and cheaper mode of transportation.

The cabs available for street hails would have a GPS system and metered fares that could be paid by credit card, Justine Johnson, of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, said at the meeting.

After Johnson’s presentation, Guy Palumbo, the executive director of the Livery Round Table spoke in opposition to the proposal. The Livery Round Table represents18,000 drivers, 350 base operators and 8,000 dispatchers and telephone operators.

“We’ve announced our support of Mayor Bloomberg’s goal of expanding taxi service to the outer boroughs,” Palumbo stated in a letter handed out at the board meeting. “However, the LTR strongly opposes the creation of a dual purpose vehicle that provides prearranged as well as taxi street hail services.”

Palumbo said the Livery Round Table is against the dual-purpose cabs because they could leave calling customers stranded if a dispatched cab picks up a hailing passenger while on route.

But Stein said that if a dual-purpose cab doesn’t respond to calls at the time they say they will, they would only be used for their street hail services.

“If these new cabs come in and aren’t reliable or are picking up other people on the way to you, people won’t use them and that service will dissolve on its own,” she said.