I-Team: Cab Company Boss Defends Long Hauling Allegations

Last Year KLAS-TV 8 CBS Las Vegas did several stories about Taxicab Long Hauling. Specifically allegations Las Vegas taxi drivers take unsuspecting Tourists through the McCarran Airport Runway Tunnel to pad the fare, upwards of $15 per ride. The link above is to a follow-up story where a GM of a local cab company refutes the allegations of long hauling, his name? Bill Shranko.

As a Las Vegas taxi driver myself I can absolutely assure you without reservation port long hauling is not only a problem, it is an Epidemic. Multi-millions of dollars are being stolen from tourists every year by hundreds of cabbies who do little else but work the McCarran Airport and rip people off. Everybody in the industry knows this is going on. Publicly the Cab Operators and Taxicab Authority, the Government Regulatory Agency, will say differently as YCS’s Bill Shranko did in the referenced report by KLAS TV.

The sad truth is, beyond a dwindling group of honest cabbies who are under constant threat of job loss for not being able to compete with production quotas inflated by epidemic levels of long hauling, many in Las Vegas secretly promote the practice. Entire cottage industries have developed from a correct perception by the riding public that taxicabs in Las Vegas are crooked.

Nothing sells Limousines better than having the perception taxis are a major rip-off. Nothing sells Rental cars or Shuttles better than the belief taxicabs are being driven by crooks. Nothing sells busses better or forces people to walk where they once used taxis. During these strolls they are likely to spend money in shops, cafes, and casinos.

Truth is, most taxis in Las Vegas are being driven by crooks. It is odds on you will be taken thru the airport tunnel if you use a taxi from McCarran to your Hotel. Most times if a customer questions the route being taken the cabbie will act as if they do not speak English (false they must to get their license). Many riders have no idea they have been robbed unless on their return trip to the airport they are lucky enough to get an honest driver who does not long haul them. Then when their fare is $16 and they paid close to double that 3 days earlier, they will know people like Bill Shranko are clueless or intentionally misleading.

6-7 years ago Taxicab Authority tried to address the then growing long hauling issue. They ran stings and wrote tickets. Nowadays they seem more interested in redefining what long hauling is and doing zero enforcement. TA is now promoting the notion if a cabbie “sells you the tunnel”, it is not long hauling. In effect if you agree to be robbed, no crime was committed. This is how desperate these people are to facilitate this crime. TA it is safe to say, is either corrupt or completely not interested in doing anything resembling enforcement work. When you have an enforcement agency redefining what laws mean to benefit those who wish to break legislated regulations, you have a major problem.

Here are some trip reports from the public documenting long hauls…..Those are just a handful of claims by actual riders secretly gleaned from the Taxicab Authority’s own website from 3 years ago. TA has since closed the web page to prying eyes. The long hauling problem now is magnitudes worse than it was in 2007. I would estimate easily half of all taxi rides originating or terminating at McCarran International Airport are long hauls.

Understand, using the connector tunnel (171) to I-215 to I-15 to the Strip is ALWAYS longer and rarely faster than the legally required “direct route” using city streets. At the minimum the rides are inflated by at least $8 per. You are being taken South, when your location is West and North of your pick-up point. Most rides with additional long hauling run double what they should if the ride had been done legally.

Taxicab Authority Corruption Exposed

McCarran Airport Connector