Cabbies Face Rule Changes

Cabbies in Oak Park could soon expect to hang up their cell phones, put out their cigarettes and clean up their acts altogether.

Legislation considered at Tuesday's village board meeting centered on beefing up the rules governing local taxicab companies, and trustees were leaving it all on the table: no cell phones, no smoking and cleaner fleets.

They're even considering a cabbie dress code to replace the current standard, which reads that a driver "be clean in dress and person."

Also discussed at the meeting was giving customers a new ways to lodge complaints about a taxi driver, including a complaint phone line that would ring to Village Hall.

The goal is to give cab customers "more prominent time to address complaints… and the cab companies will be able to hear that things aren't adequate," said village clerk Teresa Powell.

If the cab companies don't comply? The village would issue the drivers with a warning or ticket, though the potential violations are still being hammered out.

"Something should happen," said village attorney Ray Heise. "One or the other."

Larry Guider, 44 and a veteran driver for Blue Cab, was parked along South Boulevard as he waited to pick up a pair of customers from the CTA Green Line's Harlem stop on Wendesday.

He said the proposed rules amounted to good business sense for cabbies.

"It's rude for cabbies to be taking calls with customers, especially when it has nothing to do with business," he said.

Still, Guider said he has been driving for 14 years and has built up a clientele — a customer base that sometimes reaches him by cell phone.

Asked if he would pick up a ringing cell phone, even if it was outlawed, Guider didn't hesitate to answer.

"I'll take the call," he said. "It's business."

Village officials generally agreed that cabbies shouldn't be on cell phones, but haggled a bit on the definitions of the proposed rule, such as whether or not to restrict phone use to idling taxis or prohibit them only when a cab is carrying a passenger.

Trustee Colette Lueck wondered if some of the proposed changes to the ordinance —  including a ban on clothing like tank tops and swim wear, requiring drivers to wear socks with sandals and forbidding shorts during the fall and winter months — went too far.

"It's...a level of detail that isn't appropriate for us to be managing," she said.

The proposed amendments to the existing taxi ordinance also address fleet maintenance, inspections, credit card use and cab cleanliness.

Cabs can be up to 8 years old when they enter a suburban taxi fleet, officials said, so some of the new rules aim to keep taxis safe and clean.

"The issue is the overall quality of the fleets," said Trustee Jon Hale. "[Customers] don't feel they're very clean. When you get it in, you get bags thrown in the trunks on top of dirty spare tires."

The village board is expected to revisit the ordinance amendments at its Sept. 20 meeting.