Hyannis – Nine taxis White Ford Crown Victoria have been parked City taxiParking Tuesday. His windshield was broken. The grill before another was sold.
These battered and bruised cars, as well as 30 taxis of the work company, head for the junkyard in the sky, according to The owner of Town Taxi Peter Cutler. Market conditions, the increase in spending and the shortages of current staff forced Cutler and his son Jon, to close the business on March 30 after 50 years.
“We make 150-200 calls per day, but we have to make 300,” said Peter Cutler in an interview of March 25 at the Garage Taxi at 63 Cit Ave. “It’s just not enough. With Uber and Lyft, there is no 300 calls per day.”
The two men were sitting in Jon Cutler’s office right opposite the distribution office. The distributor Ivan Hrstozov and office director John Otten sat in front of large computer monitors showing the locations of 10 drivers in the median cage area. Most of them were waiting and available for calls.
A jacket of letters from Dennis-Yarmouth Dennis-Yarmouth 2A is suspended inside a glass frame on its wall. Jon Cutler was the football coach when the Dolphins won this championship. Today, the 46 -year -old man spends his time with two young girls and the construction of an e -commerce business. His t-shirt was read: dumbbells, lifted from earth and girls.
When Uber and Lyft have entered the scene
It was in 2015 when Uber and Lyft entered the scene and the business began to decrease, said Jon Cutler. THE Carpooling companies were not regulated when they started operations. Taxi companies were strongly regulated. They had to be authorized and assured, their counters inspected and the history of the driver verified by the police.
“Driving sharing companies have pushed taxis with regard to business throughout the country because they were freewheel operations,” said Peter Cutler.
Jon Cutler was completely fighting the draw competition at the start. He renamed the company, deleted a checkered design and added images of blue ferries, headlights and cars. Town Taxi, its double T logo and its easy-to-note phone number (508-775-5555) were wooded on the sides. But the marketing with which he worked warned him against expenditure too much money.
“I would not be too comfortable spending a lot of money to fight against a company supported by Google,” she told him.
COVID-19 impact on taxis
Covid-19 struck in 2020, and companies closed during the pandemic, aggravating things. The prices of housing soar and many children aged 25 to 40 have left the course, adding to the decline. There were fewer service workers to transport and fewer candidates for driving jobs.
“It was a death by a thousand cuts,” said Jon Cutler. “It was a bit of everything. We were never going to develop. ”
During the interview, a call came for a journey and Hrstozov hit the pickup and destination addresses in his computer. Software has launched the 10 pilots the request in the morning. In a few seconds, one of the drivers picked it up. His taxi icon has become blue on a monitor showing a map of the area. A gray icon has shown a break pilot. Eight green icons showed the distribution of available drivers.
About 10% to 15% of regular customers use the Town Taxi application, said Peter Cutler. Uber and Lyft applications beat Town Taxi for new people in the region or those on vacation. Town Taxi is third on the list, he said.
“Who will download a Town Taxi application on vacation?” He asked.
Peter Cutler has been semi-retired for years but comes regularly to the office. He sported a baseball cap of the CAPE COD softball league while telling the first years of the company. He remembered when there were taxi stands on Main Street in Hyannis. How the snow derives the habit of covering cars when the company was on Willow Street near the airport. How to peak the company, there were 150 drivers and more than 40 taxis. No more.
“There are so many stories,” added Cutler’s son. “A taxi driver that has existed for quite a long time has seen everything.”
There are regular customers
The company has its share of regular customers. They transport many service workers to their work in restaurants, hotels and retailers, but even this company has dropped. They have an account at CAPE COD hospital and will collect the passengers there. They often work with the Duffy Medical Center by transporting people to and from appointments.
Certain regulations have caught up with carpooling companies, but Uber and Lyft added another weapon to their arsenal. Dynamic or overvoltage pricing allows drivers to earn more money when demand is high. This is something that Town Taxi cannot offer. Their prices are set at $ 3 per mile, whether it is rush hour or 3 am and they are available 24/7. Uber and Lyft pilots don’t have to be.
Even the COD COD Regional Transit Authority has a reduction in business with its Smartdart Hailstorm service on demand. It offers rides in geographic areas for $ 3.
There are at least two other taxi services in the region.
“We are sorry to have to do so,” said Peter Cutler.
Denise Coffey writes on business, tourism and problems with an impact on residents and visitors to the CAPE. Contact it to DCOFFEY@capecodonline.com .
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