Taxis, Tow Trucks OK'd To Raise Their Rates

TAMPA - Soaring gas prices are adding a dollar to taxi trips and $10 to government-ordered towing jobs.

The Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission approved the fuel surcharges at an emergency meeting Friday. The surcharges remain in effect until the commission's regular meeting Sept. 14, when fees could be extended or bumped higher.

Gregory B. Cox, the commission's executive director, said industry representatives asked for the surcharge.

``This is not a solution to all their problems, this is just some relief,'' Cox said.

The commission oversees nearly 550 cabs and regulates 72 towing companies on a rotation list used by the Hillsborough sheriff's office, city police departments and other local government agencies.

Bob Vallee, of Tampa Taxi, said the gas surcharge should be $2.

``The public will understand,'' he said.

Hillsborough Commissioner Tom Scott, a member of the transportation commission, said a cabbie told him on the way from the airport that rising gas prices are putting drivers out of business.

That was two weeks ago, Scott said, before prices spiked even higher in the wake of supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The fuel surcharges are optional, Cox said. Similar surcharges were approved three years ago during a less dramatic rise in gas prices. The surcharge remained for three months.

Cox said the commission will consider hiking the mileage rate from $2 to $2.25 or $2.50 at the Sept. 14 meeting.

Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7691