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Cab firm bails

Passengers and vehicles pass through a taxi stand Thursday at Spokane International Airport. Spokane Cab will now handle business that TC Transportation Services provided at the airport. (Brian Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
By Tom Sowa toms@spokesman.com(509) 459-5492
Passengers and vehicles pass through a taxi stand Thursday at Spokane International Airport. Spokane Cab will now handle business that TC Transportation Services provided at the airport. (Brian Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

A Tri-Cities cab company offering exclusive service at Spokane’s airport has left abruptly, forcing officials to bring in an interim cab provider through early 2008.

TC Transportation Services won the curbside cab contract in June and was expected to continue service for at least two years. Airport officials could have renewed the contract for two additional years.

On Tuesday, the company told airport officials it would shut down operations late Wednesday. The company cited a failure to gain enough business to cover operating expenses. TC Transportation is a subsidiary of Tri-City Taxi, based in Pasco. It opened an office in Airway Heights but has discontinued all Spokane operations.

Efforts to contact the company were unsuccessful.

Spokane Cab, which operates 21 taxis, will take over operations as the airport’s exclusive cab provider.

The two-year deal was exclusive, meaning no other cab company could pick up passengers at the airport and take them to their destinations. Other airports, including Sea-Tac, have similar contracts. Other cab companies could bring departing passengers to the airport; those cabs were not allowed to stay and pick up riders.

When awarded the contract, TC Transportation agreed to pay the airport an annual guarantee of $42,000 or 8 percent of gross revenues, whichever was larger.

The only other bidder for the contract was Spokane-based TransX, which later changed its name to Fast Lane.

Several area taxi workers said the agreement reached this summer with TC Transportation projected a higher number of fares than was the case. “To me, that contract (by the airport) was onerous,” said Tony Viola, a longtime driver for United Dispatch. Cab drivers around the city soon learned most of the details of the airport contract, since many believe the airport should not restrict fares to one company, said Viola.

When the airport contacted Spokane Cab this week, it arranged a four-month special agreement by which the company paid just 50 cents per trip, said Woodard.

Woodard said the board will reopen bidding for another cab contract in early 2008.