Town Officials Reject Proposal for Hotel-to-Airport Van Service

Under pressure from the local taxi industry and in possible defiance of state law, Brookline's Transportation Board last week denied the application of a van service that hoped to bring passengers from Brookline hotels to Logan Airport and back.

The applicant, Top Transportation & Limo, had already met the state's basic requirements for a "jitney" license and expected the hearing in Brookline to be a "formality." But board members sided with cabbies – who argued the new service would steal the choicest fares from taxi drivers who also make less-lucrative in-town runs – and denied the application.

Under Top Transportation's proposal, the company would have used a 14-passenger van to ferry passengers to and from the Holiday Inn and Courtyard Marriott hotels in Brookline and Boston's Logan Airport, at a cost of around $15 to $16 per ride. Todd Kirrane, the town's transportation administrator, said the board had authorized a similar service in 2003, but it had only lasted a year.

But local taxi drivers argued the new service would hurt cabs already operating in town. They pointed that drivers with the town's existing cab companies are required to provide rides upon request, regardless of the inconvenience or limited payment involved.

It's a dangerous job and a key public service, they said, and one that is effectively subsidized in part by the hefty fares paid by out-of-towners going to the airport from the two major hotels. The new shuttle could cherry-pick all those airport passengers – the best fares in town – without any obligation to provide all the other services required of traditional taxi companies.

"It seems like an unfair playing field here," board member Josh Safer said.

The board's options were limited. Kirrane said that the board could theoretically deny the application on the basis that the vehicle would be a "detriment to the public way," but that he couldn't really see a 14-passenger van qualifying as the sort of major road menace implied by that phrase.

To make matters trickier, the board couldn't just delay the vote until a later meeting, thanks to a provision in the state law that says that if such requests aren't acted on within 60 days of the filing date – May 10 in this case – the application is automatically granted. With the 60-day mark looming, the board had to act immediately, Kirrane said. According to Kirrane, the board also lacked the authority to impose restrictions on the proposed service or to set its rates.

For their part, the applicants said they had already passed a public hearing at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and, "as we understood, this was just a formality." At that meeting, Top Transportation & Limo representative Jennifer Fiorita said, "we needed to demonstrate there was no such service operating out of town now" in exchange for an official certificate of need.

Board Chair Michael Sandman acknowledged that the applicants appeared to have followed protocol, but appeared frustrated that the board was not able to review the application based on its merits.

"On one hand, the market is the market and there should be competition," Sandman said. "On the other hand, we want to have a viable taxi cab industry." He added that he absolutely accepted the fact that the proposed service would be detrimental to Brookline cab companies.

Other board members, particularly Bill Schwartz, were less diplomatic.

"If you were trying to sell me on the fact that you're coming into this town to provide a good service to this town, you haven't sold me yet," he said.

For the board, there was also a bigger issue at play. Next June, the town hopes to begin auctioning off tax medallions, a new form of authorization that it expected to bring in millions in one-time cash for the town. If the taxi's hotel business is decimated by the new van between now and then, cab owners said, the city could expect the value of those medallions to drop accordingly. Sandman said he found that particular argument rather persuasive.

When the final motion was made and the "no" votes piled up, the assembled taxi cab elite rose to their feet, cheered and gave the board a standing ovation. The frustrated applicants walked briskly from the building.

Top Transportation representatives did not return calls following the meeting.