Quit passing the buck.
The Burbank Traffic and Transportation Committee's approval of a $2.50 surcharge on airport taxi fares amounts to nothing but an unfair tax on the backs of travelers.
Those costs — for leasing taxi waiting areas and employing someone to coordinate customer pick-ups and queuing in the taxi areas — should not be the travelers' burden.
Yet, with its approval of the surcharge, the committee has bent over backward to appease the interests of taxi providers over travelers.
It sounds like a pretty good deal — if you're a taxicab company.
The airport requires cab providers to lease the space where taxis queue up to wait for passengers. But instead of either the airport or the taxi company counting that as the costs of doing business, taxi providers' cost is conveniently passed on to the consumer in the form of a surcharge. That looks like a pretty cushy arrangement, since taxi companies seem to have done just fine without a surcharge on cab services.
Also, committee members tout the idea that the $2.50 charge is comparable with one at Los Angeles International Airport. But Bob Hope Airport is not LAX — in fact, its smaller size and convenient layout are what make Bob Hope an attractive commuter airport.
At LAX, several terminals must always be stocked with empty cabs, making the surcharge slightly more sensible, though still annoying.
Surely the Burbank airport, with its one taxi station, doesn't warrant a $2.50 surcharge on cab fares.
Committee chairman Mike Flad seems convinced that balancing out the cab companies' expenses with the surcharge is warranted because it will help minimize the "cutthroat mentality" of operators vying for riders. It will make the taxi market at Bob Hope organized and more fair among drivers, Flad said.
Fairness is good. But not at the expense of travelers. Cab companies can foot the bill for making sure things are fair for their drivers. That should not be on the travelers' dime. Why should a traveler care if he or she is that cabbie's first or 41st customer at the airport that day?
Plus, one could argue that the "cutthroat mentality" Flad worries about is, in fact, competition. And competition is good for the consumer because it lowers cost.
In the end, we hope the committee is not driven by some fear that cab companies would flee the airport if a surcharge is not imposed.
Bob Hope is a key hub in Burbank and the county — a hub where cab companies should and will do business. Certainly there are costs for doing that business, which sometimes the consumer has to feel — gasoline comes to mind — but leasing space and employing someone to keep cabs in line at an airport with one taxi station are not among them.
There's no tea to dump in the harbor, but we can still call a friend or Super Shuttle.
