Taxi authority to review leader’s cooperation in route conflict
The Nevada Taxicab Authority will discuss next month whether the agency’s administrator is being “cooperative” in developing a resolution that could reduce complaints about drivers who take longer routes than necessary in an illegal practice known as long-hauling.
Removing Ronald Grogan as administrator was not directly addressed, but board members said Thursday that options will be discussed if the stalemate continues.
“Everything he does, does not include working with the board,” said Taxicab Authority Board Member Richard Groover, who sits next to Grogan on the dais.
Following the board meeting, Grogan said he was not “overly concerned” about the upcoming discussion about his performance.
“There’s a disagreement over how the industry is regulated,” said Grogan, who was appointed in September 2015 to oversee the day-to-day operations of regulating the region’s 16 cab companies.
“I think the key is to solve that disagreement,” Grogan said. “That’s going to be my intention going into this discussion.”
Over the past year, the Taxicab Authority has worked with cab companies on developing a plan that would allow cab drivers to use “parallel routes” along Frank Sinatra Drive, Koval Lane and Interstate 15 whenever Las Vegas Boulevard is congested.
Nevada law states that taxi drivers must take the “most direct” route from point A to point B, which Grogan interprets to mean solely distance.
All five voting members of the Taxicab Authority and cab company operators believe both distance and the time it takes to reach a destination should be factored when considering the “most direct” route.
All sides are waiting for Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s office to issue an opinion on how to define “most direct.”
In the meantime, the Taxicab Authority also agreed to hold a workshop during the next board meeting to discuss options with the cab companies.
“We have an obligation to the riding public, but we also have an obligation not to destroy an industry,” said Stan Olsen, chairman of the Taxicab Authority.
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.
