By:Jennifer Marino
The current rate for a taxi ride within the village is $3.50, but All Island would like to raise the fare to $5. The current rate for senior citizens and disabled people is $2.50, and All Island is asking to raise that to $4.
"The reason we are seeking a $1.50 increase is due to the skyrocketing costs of fuel and insurance for our vehicles, along with the increase in employee costs and the maintenance of our vehicles," All Island Vice President Lawrence Blessinger wrote in a letter to the village requesting the increase. Blessinger explained that insurance costs have gone up 100 percent since the last fare hike, in 2001.
All Island has also asked for a fare increase in Lynbrook.
The village has decided to propose a compromise at the Sept. 13 meeting, to increase the regular fare from $3.50 to $4 and to keep all other fares the same. Village officials are also proposing to add to establish a set $28 fare for a ride from Rockville Centre to Kennedy Airport, and a $36 fare to La Guardia.
"I really wouldn't be happy" if the price hike for senior citizens was approved, said resident Dorothy Allen, who occasionally takes a taxi to a doctor's appointment. She said she wouldn't want to take taxis anymore if the fare were $4, but sometimes, she said, "I don't have a choice." Many senior citizens find themselves in similar situations. They don't drive, and can rely on senior services for busing to the Sandel Center or their own two feet for shopping, but sometimes they need taxis.
Resident Nancy Molisse said that if the fare went up to $4, she would walk or take a bus to places where she might normally take a cab. And disabled people who travel with aides are already at a disadvantage, according to Connie Isabella. When she takes a cab with her aide, Isabella said, she has to pay the fare for two people. Other seniors, like Lucy Foy, felt that a change from $2.50 to $4 would be just too large a jump.
They weren't the only ones who felt that way. Trustee Greg Rinn and Deputy Mayor Wayne Lipton both felt the increase was too steep. The compromise the village is suggesting is fair to the taxi company and to the residents, said Rinn. He said he looked into rising costs and found that the rate of inflation has only been about 2.5 percent a year since 2001, the time of the last fare increase. "[We] don't want to price seniors out," he said.
Lipton also did some investigating, talking to some of the taxi drivers about what they spend on fuel in a day. An increase as large as what is being asked for "would've been a windfall to the company," said Lipton. There is, however, a reasonable argument for some increase with the rising price of fuel and insurance, he said.
"Nothing's written in stone," said Lipton of the potential increase. The decision will be made after the September hearing. All Island will likely present its case at the meeting, and residents are invited to comment on the issue.
