The Nashville Metro Taxi Drivers Alliance UPDATE

What issues are we currently addressing?

We are working to:
Change the airport environment, so drivers have a place to rest, buy food/drink and to access more bathrooms.

Stop illegal (renegade) taxi, shuttle and limo drivers from hurting the business and reputation of legal taxi drivers.

Address unfair dispatching systems so every driver can earn fair wages for their work.

Establish a good relationship with the Metro Police so both parties work together instead of against one another.

Stop the targeting of taxi drivers by the police for unfair traffic violations.

What have we already achieved?

We recently hosted a meeting at the NMTDA office with:
Tom Negri, CEO of Loews Vanderbilt
Brady Banks, Mayor's office
Prof. Dan Cornfield, Vanderbilt University
Stephen Fotopulos, TIRRC
Abdulghani,

The next meeting is later this month at the Loews Vanderbilt. Airport authority, the hotel association, and a lawyers organization looking to represent the NMTDA will be present.

Why should you join the NMTDA?

Because we are working to change the taxi system in Nashville so that is fair for all drivers in the city
Access to legal council and professional services. If you get a ticket, you may qualify for a discount rate and fewer classes through the NMTDA.


The more members that sign up, the more power the NMTDA will have.

If you are interested in joining the organization, please stop by our office Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm. You can also call or email us anytime.

Vanderbilt students are volunteering at the office and are helping with a number of our projects.

There is a $20/month fee. This money is used solely to advance the mission of the organization. We exist to serve the drivers and cannot survive without the regular patronage of our members.

We will work for the benefit of all drivers, not just our members

Email: NMTDA@gmail.com
Phone: 615-712-6976

 Editorial: Metro should intervene for cabbies

The City Paper

Posted: Monday, August 4, 2008 1:41 am

They are an unheralded part of our county’s transportation infrastructure. In some cases, they can be the first impression Nashville leaves with new visitors.

In any modern American city, the taxi cab force on the street matters. Nashville’s cabbies are, unfortunately, about to go on strike. They are also searching the country to see if a national union might want to begin around the disaffected drivers.

How did it get this far? For some time, the drivers have been trying to bring their grievances to the owners of Nashville’s few dominant cab companies but with little result. Drivers say they have been turned away over the years when they did make efforts to communicate.

In the last week, drivers at one company walked off the job en masse and demanded better working conditions. At the heart of the drivers’ complaints are the series of fees and charges companies ask in return for driving company cabs. In short, it is very difficult for drivers to make a living, they say, after this series of charges is levied.

Certainly, these drivers are independent contractors and their association with these cab companies is one they choose to pursue.

At the same time, cab licenses are something regulated by Metro government. If Metro government is going to license these cab companies and therefore choose who to put into business, there is follow-up required as part of that regulatory authority.

Metro government should begin an immediate review of the charges drivers are hit with and ascertain whether these charges are needed and fair. Perhaps, Metro should even consider making changes in fees something the companies must run by the licensing board within Metro.

The city needs its cabs, and Metro government has at least a piece of the responsibility for how these cab companies conduct business.
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=61865

 Local Flat Rates

Downtown $25
Opryland $25
Brentwood $ $35
Cool Springs $45
Franklin $50
Green Hills $30
Bellevue $45
Madison $35
Rivergate $45
Hendersonville -$50
Antioch $25 -$30
LaVergne $35
Smyrna $45
Hermitage $25
Mt. Juliet $35 -$40
Lebanon $50