Yellow Cab owner seeks equity with ride-hailing services

Kyle Butrick’s parents bought Springfield Yellow Cab Co. Inc. in 1969 when he was 10 years old. Now 64, Butrick says he just wants to do what he can to keep his family business alive.

“It’s been a struggle for us,” he said in a recent interview. “I want to keep this thing going. We have survived Uber and Lyft and the pandemic, but it’s getting to the point where I’m getting extremely worried. If things don’t get better, I can’t do it anymore.”

Butrick appeared before Springfield City Council at their July 22 meeting to advocate for his company, which employs more than 90 drivers, all independent contractors, and 10 office workers.

At that meeting, council held the first reading and public hearing for an ordinance to allow cabs in the city to use the same kind of digital metering that their competitors at Uber and Lyft are permitted to use. City code currently requires mechanical meters for taxicabs, while ride-hailing services can avail themselves of the convenience of digital meters that allow integration with online payment systems and the precision of GPS for measuring distance, among other advantages. Additionally, annual inspections of mechanical meters are required by the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Division of Weights, Measures and Consumer Protections at a cost of $40 per vehicle, Butrick said.

The ordinance came about as a result of one of Butrick’s drivers, Tony Amelio, appearing at a meeting earlier this year to inform council of an inequity that existed between Yellow Cab and its ride-hailing competitors.

The ordinance, which is scheduled for a vote on Aug. 5, aims to align requirements for cabs with those of ride-hailing services, according to City Attorney Jordan Paul, who said city code allows only mechanical taximeters.

Paul said, “There are portions of state statute that allow for the electronic versions. This amendment expands the scope of your city code to allow for both versions.”

An explanation of the ordinance by Quincy Coovert, licensing supervisor for the city, notes that since 2002, the state has permitted the use of both mechanical and electronic taximeters.

The explanation provided to council goes into the weeds to explain how mechanical taximeters work, by relying on electrical pulses from a device attached to the cab’s transmission.

Electronic taximeters – available now, but not when the code was written – use GPS technology that renders them more reliable and less vulnerable to variation, and they can be easily transferred between vehicles, since they are not connected to the transmission, the explanation states.

For the city, the proposed change is essentially a housekeeping measure, bringing city code up to speed with current technology and in the process providing equity among cab companies and ride services. For cab companies, the current technology would bring versatility and savings. Butrick used part of his time at the podium to mention another issue he considers unfair, and that is the requirement that cabs – not ride-hailing vehicles – get inspections through the city garage.

“We have to take all the cabs over there where we can get a city inspection to get our airport sticker,” he said.

Butrick said annual appointments have to be made for all 30 of the cars in his fleet at a cost of $33 per car.

“The guys don’t really like to see our cabs,” he said in his remarks to council. “They make the comments, ‘We don’t do Uber and Lyft; I don’t know why we’re doing you guys.’”

In addition to city inspections, the vehicles also must have annual state inspections to be in compliance with their license, Butrick said.

“It would be really nice if you could take some of the cost off of us, because it kind of levels the playing field,” he said.

While the fee may seem small, the stakes are high, according to Butrick.

“I’m trying to keep this place going,” he said. “I mean, if you look around, it’s the only cab company in Springfield. Last year we did almost 900,000 calls. We transport kids to school in the city of Springfield, and if we don’t do something, I’m not going to be around.”

Springfield Public Schools cut back on its transportation service in 2021 because of a nationwide bus driver shortage. At the time, Springfield Business Journal reporting said around 1,500 students would lose bus services with the change. Springfield Yellow Cab Co. drivers have endorsements that allow them to provide school transportation, according to Butrick, and all drivers have background checks.

According to its website, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education allows districts to contract with taxicab companies to transport students, but the drivers must have a Class E for-hire driver’s license with an S endorsement, and the driver must operate under written contract with the district and agree to meet all state statutes State Board of Education regulations for the transportation of students.

Airport service
Speaking to SBJ, Butrick pointed out a perceived inequity between cab drivers and Uber and Lyft drivers in airport service. He said his drivers have to pay a $3 fee to pick up fares at the airport. It’s a fee drivers have to absorb, since the fare structure for taxicabs doesn’t allow the fee to be added to the customer’s bill. Cab drivers swipe a card at the gate when they enter the airport to pick up riders, he said, but Uber and Lyft drivers do not have to swipe. However, Springfield Aviation Director Brian Weiler told SBJ that Uber and Lyft drivers are also assessed a $3 fee, but the fee is automatically deducted through geofencing – no swipes required. Unlike taxicabs, ride-hailing services can pass the fee along to customers.

Weiler noted ride-hailing drivers park in a holding pen in the south part of the old terminal parking lot, and when they are activated, they drive into the terminal, and the geofence charges them $3.

There is no charge for either cabs or ride-hailing services to drop off passengers, he added.

“We view both of them, cab companies and Uber and Lyft – we call them transportation network companies – as important,” he said.

Butrick told SBJ that earlier in the July 22 council meeting, he listened to discussion of the airport master plan, which includes an improved area for Uber and Lyft drivers.

“They never approached the cab companies,” he said. “They aren’t telling us, ‘We’ll make it nicer for you,’ even though we’ve been servicing the airport for over 50 years.”

Weiler said the ride-hailing companies would like to have holding areas a little closer to the terminal, and that is envisioned in the master plan, though there are no firm details or a timeline.

“We’re trying to set up as level a playing field as we can, but guess what? We can get better,” he said. “Both taxis and transportation network companies provide a valuable service.”

Butrick said when the city allowed ride-hailing companies to enter the scene in 2016, it planned to convene a year later to assess how things were going. That never happened.

At the July 22 meeting, Mayor Ken McClure said it was his desire to treat everyone equally to the extent possible.

“I think we’d clearly be interested in looking – are there other things that ought to be done to make sure that it’s level?” McClure said. ‘We can look into that – we can continue the discussion.”

Nationally, ride-hailing services are outpacing taxicabs as a means of personal transport, according to research company Statista, which reported that in 2022, revenue from ride-hailing was twice as high as revenue from taxis. Revenue is projected to rise from $45 billion in 2022 to over $54 billion in 2027. Meanwhile, taxi revenue is projected to decline from $24 billion to $21 billion in the same period.

While Springfield Yellow Cab Co. is the largest taxicab service in the city, some smaller companies also provide service, among them Springfield Royal Taxi, Red Taxi & Shuttle Service, All Around Cab and CCC Taxi Service.

‘Essential service’
Butrick said his company provides an essential service. In addition to providing rides, it also picks up and delivers food orders and has done so for years, and it also delivers prescriptions.

In addition to providing school transportation, Butrick’s company transports people from jail and from local hospitals.

He recalled that in the early days of the company, his father used to deliver parts for telephone lines for Southwestern Bell.

“He’d pick up the part from the warehouse and take it not to an address but to a telephone pole,” he said. “A guy would climb down and grab the part and then go right back up.”

One of his main customers, who even had his own dedicated phone line at Yellow Cab Co., was late Springfield philanthropist Bobby Allison, he said.

“We used to take Bobby’s food orders to him every night until he passed away,” he said. “We delivered pretty much anything he needed, and he gifted all of my employees $100 every year at Christmas.”

It was a gift the workers appreciated, Butrick said, noting he is unable to provide benefits to his drivers because of the cost.

“I so wish I could treat them the way I feel they deserve,” he said.

Butrick said Allison’s famous generosity showed itself in quiet ways.

“He called me up one day, and he wanted to let me know if Springfield Public Schools ever got behind on their bills, he would take care of it,” he said.

Allison’s compassion is a model Butrick takes to heart.

“Part of me wants to throw my hands up and say, ‘I’m done,’ and just start my retirement,” he said. “That would be pretty dang selfish, with 90-some drivers.”

He added that his efforts to achieve parity for his company are not about him.

“It’s about the business,” he said. “I just have to keep pushing it along the best I can.”