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According to the association’s administrator, Joe Guinn of Limo & Bus Compliance, a number of Arizona operators have not only expressed interest in seeing the ALA reform but also made a concerted effort to breathe new life into group.
“There are a couple of us who have been working on this but we would be nowhere without the leadership of Steve Kaplan at The Driver Provider,” says Guinn. “This is something that we have been hoping could be reestablished for a while. We can all agree that there is power in collaboration.”
The meeting included a brief history of ALA and an overview of who held officer and director positions within the association when it last met. The importance of a formal election process was included in the conversation, with an emphasis on attracting new and previous members to the organization in order for it to avoid the pitfalls of the past.
According to Guinn, Kaplan was appointed as ALA’s interim president during the meeting, given his history as an active member who had previously led the association. He will serve as a “representative of the group for the purpose of presenting joint opposition” on behalf of the industry as it faces the very issue that area operators saw a key reason to resurrect the association: TNC operation at Sky Harbor (PHX).
“The timing was so critical because we’re currently facing a deregulation at the airport that would allow TNCs to freely operate at PHX, as well as higher airport fees and decreases in background checks for drivers that we believe compromise public safety,” Guinn says.
Guinn, Kaplan, and Chris Przybylski of The Driver Provider reached out to their various networks of affiliates, vendors, and previous members to generate interest in bringing back the association to offer the chauffeured ground transportation industry a more unified front in Arizona.
“We made sure that we utilized our full reach into the state, and I think we were all very happy that we had so many people that we packed the meeting room,” says Guinn. He added that many who were unable to attend the recent meeting have expressed interest in rejoining ALA.
For more information on getting involved with the newly reformed association, contact Kaplan at sk@driverprovider.com or 602.453.0001.
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The rules, which initially took effect in May 2008, addressed all vehicle model years, and were subsequently modified in 2015 to establish that black cars model year 2013 and newer would not be subject to any type of mandatory vehicle retirement. Black cars model year 2012 and below, however, would be subject to a uniform seven-year retirement structure.
The reasoning behind the proposed repeal of the 2008 requirement was that the market itself was the driving incentive for the constant upgrading of Black Cars due to consumers' ever-increasing demand for high quality, safe and reliable vehicles; something we've known to be true of our industry since its inception.
In the following statement from the TLC, the upcoming City Council legislation is referenced as a main contributing factor to this wise decision. "In contemplation of the Council's consideration of legislation that would discontinue the remaining mandatory retirement for vehicles 2012 and older, the TLC has suspended enforcement of this requirement until further notice."
BCAC President Berj Haroutunian was quick to issue the following statement. "It has long been a goal of the BCAC, and the black car industry as a whole, to do away with this rule. I believe I can speak for all industry members when I say that we are thankful that the TLC and NYC Council have agreed to hear our side on this matter; the TLC in particular for going the extra mile and suspending enforcement. They saw the potential negative implications, and they saw to it that it did not go any further in anticipation of the pending legislation. I'd like to extend a special thank you to the BCAC's executive director, Ira Goldstein. Since day one he has been a strong advocate for our industry and was a crucial player in this deal."
Had this agreement not been reached, the existing vehicle retirement rules would have required the purchase of many new vehicles at great expense, potentially leading to rate increases to share these increased costs with clients, and perhaps even resulting in lost ridership
Visit nybcac.org for more information.
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The association has set up a microsite, ridesafema.org, for the express purpose of getting people in touch with Massachusetts representatives to advocate for the riding public’s safety.
“One of the things we needed to do is have a grassroots effort, and the site was that effort to get people to contact their legislators,” says NELA Executive Director Rick Szilagyi. “We set it up just for that purpose, so we could direct people to a website that deals with this issue relative to Massachusetts legislation.”
With two industry-related bills—one of which is the association’s own HB-3702, written in tandem with the taxi industry it has been working closely with for more than a year—and insurance-related legislation currently in the House Finance Committee, Szilagyi anticipates that when the bill comes out of the House “probably in early March,” capitalizing on that timing with public input will be crucial.
“The deadline [for contacting legislators] is fluid, but now would be great because over the next week or two, the new bill will be out and that’s when it will be the foremost thing in legislators’ minds,” he says.
To make contacting a state senator or representative even easier, NELA is directing people to malegislature.gov/People/Search to find specific elected officials.
NELA’s three dominant goals are to see TNCs operate within the parameters of 24/7 commercial insurance, fingerprint-based background checks, and license plates that identify a TNC driver—“not an Uber sticker that anyone can buy on eBay,” according to Szilagyi, who welcomes any show of support as Massachusetts lawmakers mull over TNC regulations.
“Even getting one more person is huge,” he says. “That’s one more than we had today.”
The association’s next quarterly meeting will be March 15. Additionally, it will be holding an Education Day April 4.
Visit nelivery.org for more information.
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