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PRLA Board or Directors. L to R: (Rear) Vendor Director John Arone of Transportation Insurance Brokers, Director Ryan Shaer of Ace Limousine, President Tony Viscusi of Global Limousine Service, and Vice President Bob Euler, Jr. of King Limousine. (Front) Director Claribel Ortiz of Trophy Limousine, Director Suman Anwar of ANB Trans, and Secretary Tracy Salinger of Unique Limousine.
Forty members and guests of the Philadelphia Regional Limousine Association (PRLA) headed to Pepper’s By Amedeo's in King of Prussia on Wednesday, April 17, for the organization’s spring meeting. Sponsored by Rob’s Automotive and Collision, the dinner meeting offered ample opportunity for the members to network.
Prior to dinner, attendees were welcomed by PRLA President Anthony Viscusi of Global Limousine Service who shared that the association is working on a new, updated website. He then introduced the evening’s sponsor Robert Leipziger, the founder and owner of Rob’s Automotive and Collision, which offers full automotive services—from towing to body work—at a number of regional locations. Leipziger generously offered active PRLA members a discount on their towing services.
40 Members and Guests attended the spring PRLA meeting
The discussion then turned to congestion pricing, which has recently been approved for New York City. To combat similar legislation coming to Philadelphia and other northeast cities, the PRLA proposed joint meetings with the Maryland Limousine Association and Virginia Limousine Association.
To close the meeting, a donated pass to the CD/NLA Executive Retreat in Miami on June 2-5 was raffled off. The winner was Allen Yang of Delaware Limo.
Visit prlainc.com for more information.
[04.25.24]
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GroundWidgets and Livery Coach Solutions, both leaders in the ground transportation software and technology space, have announced that they have completed a merger of the two companies. Livery Coach Solutions is now a wholly owned subsidiary of GroundWidgets.
GroundWidgets Chairman & CEO Apurva Patel
GroundWidgets is a leading innovator of applications, integrated solutions, and services that empower the ground transportation industry. GroundWidgets’ SantaCruz product is a comprehensive 360-degree platform that fulfills the operational requirements of transportation operators and helps them automate and streamline their business with workflow automation to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and optimize resources.
"In working with and getting to know the Livery Coach team, we realized that our mission, core values, and strategic direction were very synergistic, and we shared a common philosophy on how to develop and deliver the next generation of technologies to our customer base. Combining resources with Livery Coach will help accelerate the delivery of innovative products to the industry, and we are privileged to have industry veterans like David, Chip, and An as part of the team," says GroundWidgets Chairman & CEO Apurva Patel.
Livery Coach President David Hirsch
Livery Coach Solutions provides back-office automation software for the chauffeured transportation industry and offers both an in-house solution as well as a cloud (SaaS) solution for their customers. Livery Coach software solutions are designed to help a transportation company operate their business by streamlining day-to-day processes leveraging intuitive design and functionality.
"Joining forces with GroundWidgets was a logical and strategic decision for Livery Coach and its ongoing evolution. Our team has been working with GroundWidgets over the past few months and was impressed with the innovative and next generation of products they are developing to accelerate automation for the limousine industry. Livery Coach has always focused on delivering great products to its customer base and combining forces with GroundWidgets enables us to expand our portfolio of products as well as add resources for development and support," says Livery Coach President David Hirsch.
While both Livery Coach and SantaCruz will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future, the combined teams have begun to work on sharing ideas and technology that leverages best-in-class features of both systems. GroundWidgets and Livery Coach will also develop a transition path for those customers who want to migrate to the SantaCruz platform. Over time, the two companies will integrate their support operations and software offerings to offer operational excellence and efficiency never envisioned in the ground transportation industry within a suite of comprehensive and easy to use applications that seamlessly work together, according to the companies. Livery Coach has already integrated with GroundXchange and GroundSpan (Affiliate to Affiliate Network and Corporate Connectivity Tools) and we will be integrating other applications soon.
Visit groundwidgets.com or liverycoach.com for more information.
[04.23.24]
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On April 20, N.Y. Speaker Carl Heastie and Transportation Committee Chair William Magnarelli revealed significant capital aid allocations in the Enacted State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024-25 budget, with a special focus on enhancing street and highway infrastructure across New York.
A total of $1.3 billion has been earmarked for various initiatives, including funding restorations for critical programs, provisions to combat toll evasion, and measures to increase stretch limousine safety.
The Limousine, Bus, Taxi, Operators of Upstate New York (LBTOUNY) issued a statement regarding the limousine legislation that appears in the budget:
“Your LBTOUNY legislative committee has been working really hard for the last six years to prevent these laws from happening. We have been successful in getting them shot down year after year, and we have been able to work with our elected and appointed officials to get many other bills removed that affected our industry. But the following bill set to be put into the Governor’s budget [includes] the items they are not budging too much on. I know this may affect some of you and we wish we had better news. If this affects you, call your representatives and call the Governor’s office. We will continue the fight until the last moment—and are still working on getting some exceptions.”
Drafted in the wake of the 2018 Schoharie accident, the Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Act is designed to implement limousine safety recommendations made by the Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force. This bill would amend sections of the Transportation Law and Vehicle and Traffic Law and add new sections to the Vehicle and Traffic Law as part of a comprehensive limousine safety package based upon recommendations from the Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force, which include:
- Requiring that the state’s limousine safety website be updated to include publicly available information in accordance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) website;
- Requiring a minimum fine of $10,000 for operation of a stretch limousine that is under suspension;
- Authorizing the Commissioner of Transportation to seize the license plates of certain passenger carrying vehicles that have failed an inspection and been placed out-of-service;
- Requiring that stretch limousines be equipped with enhanced safety features including window break tools, fire extinguishers, improved emergency egress, and roll-over protection;
- Prohibiting the operation of a stretch limousine that is over 10 years old or has milage exceeding 350,000 miles, whichever occurs first; and
- Mandating that all stretch limousine passengers be given a pre-trip safety briefing.
This bill would take effect immediately, with certain provisions taking effect 180 days, one year, or two years after becoming law.
Visit lbtouny.com for more information.
[04.23.24]