Competition among Chicago cab companies is heating up, and the result may be fewer beaters and better service.
Chicago Carriage Cab Co. began operating in June with 125 new Ford Crown Victorias and now has about 340 on the road.
Chris Corrigan, president of Yellow Cab, wants to make a more dramatic move by replacing America’s favorite cab, the Crown Vic, with England’s cab of choice, the London Taxi, a taller, roomier, more fuel-efficient car.
Corrigan, who needs city approval to make the move, says the London Taxi would be a tourist magnet like Cows on Parade, the fiberglass bovines that decorated Chicago in 1999.
“Can you imagine 500 of these running around Chicago? It would create as much excitement as the cows, only they’re functional,” Corrigan said.
The good news for taxi riders is that under Chicago regulations the fare would be the same whether the cab is a beat-up 1999 Ford, a new one with Internet service or a London Taxi.
Owned by Simon Garber, a New York City taxi operator, the Chicago Carriage Cab Co. opened for business in Chicago with a fleet of stretched Crown Victorias that are six inches longer than the standard-size Fords at 218 inches bumper-to-bumper.
The additional six inches goes into rear legroom, so passengers have room to stretch.
Chicago Carriage Cab also has rear-seat air conditioner controls and is adding satellite-based Internet service to its maroon-colored taxis this fall, a feature passengers can use free.
“It’s going to be very easy to sell the cabs because of the extra service,” said Marina Bartashnik vice president of Chicago Carriage Cab. “You basically get a limo ride for the price of a regular cab.”
Chicago Carriage Cab is hiring a marketing consultant to help it pursue corporate accounts so riders can reserve cabs.
“We’re not just a hail-cab business,” Bartashnik said. “It is much more efficient to have a cab waiting for you when you need one.”
Garber says building a corporate clientele that orders cabs mean drivers spend less time parked at the airport or cruising downtown streets hoping for a customer.
“We get out and try to bring more customers to our drivers so they make more money, while the others do nothing,” he said.
Other cab companies are buying stretched Crown Vics, though in smaller numbers. The Taxi Exchange, for example, plans to order 50.
However, standard-size Crown Victorias that started life as police cars still make up the bulk of Chicago taxis. Large sedans such as the Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Intrepid, minivans and a handful of sport-utility vehicles also operate as cabs.
Compared with even the stretched Crown Vics, the London Taxi would stand out in Chicago, much like the double-deck tourist buses running around downtown.
At 180 inches long, it is 32 inches shorter than the standard-size Crown Victoria, but at 6 feet it is 16 inches taller.
The rear doors swing open 90 degrees, compared with about 70 degrees on a Crown Victoria, making it easier to climb in or out of than most passenger vehicles.
It holds five passengers with a three-place rear bench seat and two rear-facing jump seats, and Corrigan says there is far more space than the standard Crown Victoria, which holds four passengers (three in back, one in front).
“You can still only fit two adults comfortably in back. I’m 5-foot-7, and I don’t fit in the back,” Corrigan says of the Ford taxi.
Among other features on the London Taxi are a passenger-to-driver intercom, a power outlet for a mobile phone or laptop computer and separate rear-seat air conditioning controls. A wheelchair ramp folds out of the floor, and one of the jump seats swivels to accommodate people with disabilities.
The rear bench seat has an integrated child booster seat mounted in the center and a split seat cushion. Both sides fold up to create room for two wheelchairs.
Wheelchair-accessible minivan taxis are in service in Chicago, but Corrigan says they have to be reserved by phone, and it may take more than an hour to get one.
“A person in a wheelchair could literally hail a cab,” Corrigan said of the London Taxi.
Though Yellow has big plans for the London Taxi, there are hurdles to clear before any are on the street.
First, the city must add the London cabs to its list of approved vehicles. The city Consumer Services Department has been considering Yellow’s pitch for months but will say little about what is holding up a decision.
“We do want to see the London Taxi on the streets, but we are still looking at some issues, including the vehicle itself,” spokeswoman Connie Buscemi said. “At this point I can’t get into the details.”
Second, Yellow has asked the city to let it wrap the London Taxis in advertising, with the rolling billboards helping offset the nearly $45,000 price tag, double that of a new Crown Victoria.
“That is still under consideration as well,” Buscemi said.
American Express is among companies interested in advertising on the London Taxis. Yellow Cab is showing a prototype taxi with a yellow roof and American Express logos and corporate color scheme below the windows. Yellow Chief Executive Casey Decker says the company also is in talks with American Airlines and McDonald’s about advertising.
“If I don’t get advertising, I can’t afford the cabs. I can’t even afford new Fords,” Corrigan said.
The London Taxi is built in Coventry, England, and sold in this country by London Taxis of North America of Sudbury, Mass., which obtained regulatory approval to sell the cars this year after passing federal safety and emissions tests.
Patton Corrigan, Chris’ father and Yellow’s chairman, is an investor in London Taxis North America, and Yellow is the distributor for London Taxis in Illinois and several Midwestern and Southeastern States.
Yellow has ordered 25 London Taxis it intends to sell to paratransit services for the elderly and others with mobility impairments and five “executive sedans” for civilian use, but no taxis as it awaits word from the city. Marshall Field’s has purchased two that will be painted in the retailer’s traditional green motif and used for package delivery.
The original version of the taxi debuted in 1947, and the current TX II model has similar tall, stately styling. North American versions are converted from right side to left-side driving controls.
Joseph O’Brien, sales executive with London Taxi, said none are yet in service in the U.S. but about 125 are on order, with about 30 scheduled for delivery by the end of this month. A small number are in service or soon will be in the Boston and Detroit areas.
Buyers include small cab companies, livery services and individual owner-operators in the Boston area, Detroit and Washington, D.C. City Cab of Los Angeles, which has 400 cabs, has ordered four as a market test, and three cab companies in San Francisco are thinking of buying 25.
O’Brien projects sales of about 600 cars by next July and 1,200 in 2005.
“It’s going to bring about a change in the industry. A lot of taxi companies really didn’t maintain their vehicles or keep them clean,” he said. “Now, you’re going to see some forward-thinking individuals who are going to offer a higher level of service.”
The 4,500-pound TX II (the company calls it the Civilized Taxi) comes with a 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine and 125 horsepower, versus a 225-h.p. V-8 in the Crown Victoria.
But O’Brien says the TX II will cut the annual fuel bill nearly in half, to $4,225 from $7,800, compared to a V-8 Crown Vic.
That is based on 60,000 miles per year with diesel fuel and gasoline at $1.69 per gallon and using the EPA city driving estimates of 13 m.p.g. for the Crown Vic and 24 m.p.g. for the London Taxi.
The more maneuverable London Taxi also can turn in a smaller circle than the longer Crown Victoria, a plus in city driving.
Even so, the $44,800 base price on the TX II is a stumbling block.
By comparison, a Crown Victoria is around $24,000 new, and most taxi companies, including Yellow, buy used Crown Vic police cars for around $9,000.
“The difference is that you’re buying that vehicle with the idea of using it for a couple of years,” O’Brien said. “The average life of a London Taxi in England is eight to 12 years, and on that basis the operating costs will be lower.”
With its roomy rear seat and rear-facing jump seats, which are equipped with lap/shoulder belts, the London Taxi has space for four adults to sit comfortably, facing each other, as if in a mobile conference room.
As Decker watches four passengers exit a Crown Victoria on Michigan Avenue, the three in back squeeze through the rear doors.
“I could put all four of them in the back, together, and they’d all be comfortable,” he said. “And it would a lot easier for them to get out.”
