A state judge recently ruled that a new law which was enacted by the state legislature can’t be used to prevent the Salt Lake City International Airport from commencement of a new exclusive airport taxi contract. The SLC Airport awarded contracts to both Total Transit of Glendale, Arizona and to Ace Taxi Service in October 2011 to provide walk-up taxi service from the Salt Lake City Intl Airport.
The start of the new airport taxi contract have been put on hold until the entire court case is resolved.
New State law HB104 forbids cities from enacting ordinances that establish maximum age and mileage restrictions as long as vehicles pass state safety inspections. The judge ruled the state statutes are not retroactive unless the Legislature expressly says so.
A pending lawsuit by competing Salt Lake City taxi companies including Yellow Cab and Ute Cab Co. allege that state law HB104 prohibits the SLC Airport from imposing age and mileage requirement on vehicles.
The plaintiffs asserted that HB104 invalidated the airport taxi contracts because the awards were largely based on the taxi companies promise to provide newer vehicles.
The airport taxi contracts were awarded to the highest proposers. The Request For Proposal (RFP) was based on a 100 point-scale. “Quality of Vehicles” represented 15% or 15 points out of the total available points.
Salt Lake City Airport Taxi Contact: Available Points
- Quality of Vehicles: 15 points
- Quality of Drivers: 15 points
- Plan of Operations: 20 points
- Previous Experience: 20 points
- Minimum Annual Guarantee Amount: 20 points
- Financial Performance and References: 10 points
Ace Taxi Service was the highest rated company with a total score of 91 and Total Transit received the second highest score of 88. Yellow Cab of Salt Lake City scored 60.
Related: Salt Lake City Airport Ground Transportation News
Ruling Delays Awarded New Taxi Contracts at SLC Airport
Yellow Cab Wins Temporary Restraining Order Over New Taxi Contract at SLC Airport
Salt Lake City Airport Awards Exclusive Taxi Service Contracts
City Issues New RFP for Exclusive Salt Lake City Taxi Contract
