Whitefish studies its options for taxi service

Whitefish needs a taxi service, and not just to deliver late-night bar patrons back to their motels or homes.

That was the consensus of a group of about 50 concerned citizens who met at the Great Northern Bar last week to talk about the community’s options for getting a taxi service.

“We had a broad cross-section of people,” said Jan Metzmaker, director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau. “We need to cobble something together and I was encouraged because they were all there to solve a problem.”

Seniors, police officers, disabled people, business owners, lodging representatives, tourism officials and local government representatives were among the group, all looking for solutions.

It has been four months since Josh and Peggy Hertlein closed their taxi company in Whitefish and that has left a big hole.

“There was open dialogue about how difficult it is for anyone to have a taxi service here because there’s not enough volume,” Whitefish Chamber of Commerce President Sheila Bowen said.

Explaining the dire need, she gave the example of an elderly woman who works in downtown Whitefish but has failing eyesight and can’t walk or drive the nine blocks to work.

“She’s tried everything” to get adequate transportation, Bowen said.

Citizens identified four service categories that most desperately need taxi service: bar patrons; disabled residents; tourists who don’t have a vehicle but want to get around; and senior citizens who want to eat their Meals on Wheels meals at the senior center instead of at home.

The Montana Public Service Commission currently lists three authorities that could serve the Whitefish area — Flathead-Glacier Transportation, owned by Randy Johnson; Winter Sports Inc., doing business as Whitefish Mountain Resort; and Flathead Area Custom Transportation, which has suspended service but has a permit that’s valid until March 2010, according to Transportation Division Administrator Wayne Budt.

Winter Sports’ permit is limited to a 15-mile road radius from the Whitefish Post Office and to vehicles that can carry a maximum of eight passengers.

Johnson told the Whitefish group that it takes at least 25,000 people to support a taxi business and pointed to numerous taxi businesses that have come and gone through the last 20 years.

The state commission regulates transportation and issues authority for taxi services. To start a for-profit taxi business, an interested party must apply to the commission, identifying the area of service.

“If another carrier has a conflict, they can protest,” Budt said. The protest then requires a hearing before the commission.

Nonprofit organizations with 501 (c)(3) tax status can operate taxi services and aren’t regulated.

“Eagle Transit could run a cab if they wanted to,” Budt said. “So could the American Legion or VFW or a nursing home.”

And nonprofits aren’t limited to transporting their own members, he added. They can charge for service and serve the entire community.

“That’s part of the reason it’s difficult to operate as a for-profit business,” Budt said.

Hotels and motels also can transport their customers around town or to the airport without commission-sanctioned authority.

Metzmaker said another community meeting will be scheduled after the Thanksgiving holiday for further discussion about taxi options for Whitefish.

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com