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Clearwater, Fla. — The West Florida Livery Association (WFLA) met up at Bascom’s Chop House on February 10 to discuss association and industry matters.
After the treasurer’s report from Sheri Boesch of Network Limousines, Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission Executive Director Kyle Cockream discussed changes in local permits and provided an update on how the commission has been policing TNCs in the county.
“They’re trying to get TNCs to abide by the rules and regulations, and they’re issuing citations,” said WFLA President Dave Shaw of Olympus Limousine. He added that an injunction has been issued against Lyft and Uber “because they were sent cease-and-desist letters about operating in Hillsborough County, which they basically ignored.”
Shaw then spoke about Florida Limousine Association’s (FLA’s) fundraising and lobbying efforts for 2015. Shaw said that FLA has hired a lobbying firm from Tallahassee and another in southern Florida to help the state associations in their battle against TNCs, and has also contracted with a Tallahassee PR firm “to spread the word about our issues.” But that outside help does amount to a considerable cost.
“It all comes to about $145,000 in commitments, so we’re doing a fundraising campaign; hopefully, we’ll be able to get that amount of money,” said Shaw. “We got about $100,000 last year and we’re shooting for that again.”
The monthly meeting hosted a number of out-of-state guests. Driving Results’ ownership/leadership group Spinning Wheels had its first meeting of the year in nearby Tampa and stopped by to show support for fellow member Boesch’s regional association. Having an array of industry members representing regions all across the country allowed for an overview of what other states are doing to combat TNCs locally.
“A lot of the Spinning Wheels members are involved in their associations, so we let them get up and speak,” Shaw said. “We had a lot of input about what other associations are doing and how they’re going about it.”
Chauffeur Driven Publisher Chris Weiss was also on hand to talk about CD’s 2015 events, as well as donate thousands of dollars to the association’s ongoing battle against TNCs, as Chauffeur Driven has recently become a member of WFLA. Weiss also raffled off a pass to June’s Executive Retreat in Nashville and the Miami Beach show in October.
“It was a fantastic meeting, and we enjoyed everyone being there,” said Shaw.
Shaw added that in the week following the meeting, two House bills were introduced that affect insurance and TNCs, as well as another House bill that was filed in Tallahassee and also pertains to unregulated transportation operations.
“It’s a bill to regulate TNCs but it was written by, we believe, Uber lobbyists,” he said. “We haven’t really discussed any of it yet because they were just introduced, but we are on top of it.”
The next WFLA meeting will be March 24.
Visit wflatampa.com for more information.
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Chauffeur Driven Editor Madeleine Maccar sat in on Wisconsin Limousine Association’s (WLA) monthly conference call on February 18, where several members discussed DOT activity, TNC updates, and association-specific news.
After everyone in attendance had a chance to chat and catch up, the meeting kicked off with Secretary and Treasurer Karen Lotts of A Knight Rider Limousine presenting the treasurer’s report.
While WLA President Mike Hartmann of Stardust Limousine reported that the association has been discussing TNCs for a while and that they haven’t “really haven’t affected anybody that I know of” from the chauffeured transportation side of regulated livery services, other members said that TNCs are beginning to have an impact on the taxicab industry. They cited a news report the week before, which addressed how taxi operators in the Green Bay area are starting to complain about the slow encroachment of Uber.
“It’s on everybody’s mind,” Hartmann said. “They started out in Milwaukee, and maybe four or five months ago, started up in Green Bay. We just want them all operating with insurance so everyone’s safe.”
Hartmann also said that Wisconsin’s DOT has become more active in the past year or two, having approached WLA members to help identify problems that the state’s operators have been noticing or dealing with.
An ongoing issue is the 5 percent state fee that the operators have to pay on certain trips, which is a fee that the WLA has attempted to get rid of in the past and is thinking about resurrecting that fight again. Hartmann explained that Wisconsin companies will frequently upgrade a client’s requested Town Car if inclement weather necessitates an SUV, which has them “playing in a gray area:” SUVs and vehicles accommodating up to 10 passengers require payment of the state fee while something like a Town Car does not—which are variables that Hartmann calls “kind of a bookworking nightmare.”
“I’d just prefer to see that fee gone because we’re at a disadvantage if taxicab companies don’t have to report that fee but we do—and more than likely, Uber isn’t reporting that 5 percent fee, so, again, we’re at a 5 percent disadvantage,” he said.
The WLA’s next monthly conference call will be March 18.
Visit wisconsinlimo.org for more information.
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In the spirit of hosting a show that heads to a rotating roster of cities, we’ll be venturing to world-class locales each year. Plans for our first trade show to be held at a premier destination spot continue to fall into place, and we couldn’t be more excited about heading to Loews Miami Beach Hotel and the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center this October 11-14. And our 2016 show will take downtown election-season Washington, D.C., by storm when we host our fourth annual trade show—currently scheduled for October 9-12, 2016—at the luxuriously appointed Renaissance Hotel, which is adjacent to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center where our trade show floor will be located.
The response to moving from Atlantic City to South Beach has been overwhelmingly positive—even more than we could have expected—and we want to continue providing our show attendees with events that best serve their needs and interests. That’s why we’re now looking for your input regarding where and when we hold our future shows.
We’ve prepared a short multiple-choice survey to find out where operators’ preferences lie, which you can find and fill out here.
Do you prefer a late-September show to a mid-October one? Is it easier for you to step away from your company in the beginning or the middle of the week? In what three cities would you most like to see our shows land in the future? This is your opportunity to have an impact on where our shows are held in the future.
Because no two operators’ needs are the same, we’ve given you plenty of space to either customize or elaborate on your answers. Tell us as much as you want about your responses, or provide an alternative option that best reflects your perfect solution. We do want to know where you’d like to see 2017 and beyond take us—and you!—so please provide prompt responses.
And if you need a little inspiration or just want to revisit the highlights of our previous events, head on over to chauffeurdrivenshow.com for all the information on our past shows—and be sure to check out the newly launched page for our first-ever Executive Retreat, which will kick off in Nashville this June 22-24.
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