The Chronicle‘s Matt Stiles reports that Council will take up a proposal that would require an exam of taxi drivers:
One of many proposed changes to the city’s “vehicles for hire” ordinance under consideration would resurrect a previously required exam for drivers. The test would quiz their knowledge of Houston’s streets and the city rules that govern their trade.
“The cab industry has grown so much that many of the drivers are not familiar with Houston, and that’s the majority of the complaints we get,” said Tina Paez, a deputy director the city’s Finance and Administration Department. “It’s just to make sure that they are familiar with the streets and know where they are taking people.”
When I first saw the headline, my only question was whether Yellow Cab was pushing this measure (since it would not pass if the company was opposed, but will almost certainly pass if the company is pushing it — recall that Council just last year put a firm out of business at Yellow Cab’s request). Stiles answered that question in his concluding sentence:
Rugg of Yellow Cab said that overall, the changes would benefit the city. “This will give the passenger, or the riding public, a better experience.”
What Yellow Cab wants, Yellow Cab usually gets from the City of Houston. The measure may get delayed for a week so some councilmembers can preen and Yellow Cab can fine tune, but it will almost certainly move forward.
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