Atlantic City’s shrinking casino base has been stressing many of the other industries that serve casino tourists and for one group of workers—the city’s taxi cab drivers—things may be reaching a breaking point.
A report in the local Press of Atlantic City surveyed the resort’s cab drivers and found that few, if any are making a sustainable living as the city’s tourism base declines. Though winter would seem a busy time for cab drivers, most reported getting less than a handful of fares each day this season and told the paper they are ready to quit and leave the city.
Officials for Yellow Cab Co., the city’s largest and only organized taxi company, told the paper that 24 of its drivers turned in their medallions in September, with an additional 37 behind on lease payments and on the verge of having their contracts canceled. That’s a total of 61 of its 75 drivers facing hardship.
“Just making the lease is hard,” Muhammed Fayez, 48, president of the Atlantic City Taxicab Association told the Press. The association represents about 150 drivers, half its total membership before three casinos closed in September. “I’m behind about two weeks.”
“We had four properties close, and now the competition in surrounding states is killing us,” said Fayez. “We used to have thousands of buses coming here. We’ve lost business from the south. I used to have tourists from Baltimore and Maryland. The poker player from New York is now going to Sands Bethlehem Casino.”
Meanwhile, the city is rewriting its Taxi Code Ordinance and overhauling its whole transportation system. A plan is expected to go before Atlantic City Council next month that includes reforms such as a dress code for drivers, credit card regulations, GPS dispatching, and more efficient fuels.
“I don’t think we have taken any action with transportation for a long time,” Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian said. “With four properties closing, we ended up with more limos, rolling chairs, and unlicensed taxis than demand. Competition is so fierce now that no one can make a living.”
Adding to that competition, an electric tram system with five trams that each can seat up to 15 passengers debuts on the Boardwalk on February 1. B&B Parking will pay the city at least $126,000 per year for two years to operate the system, the Press reported.
