Date of Occurrence:    11/13/07

Time of Occurrence:    Approx. 5:00 p.m.

Location of Occurrence:     McCarron to Stratosphere

Comments:
When I arrived in Las Vegas late on the afternoon of 11/13, I took a Vegas Western Cab Co van #6166 from McCarron airport to the Stratosphere. I have been to Las Vegas on numerous prior occasions, and am familiar with how to get around town. I have driven in Las Vegas enough times to know that Paradise Blvd. is a good way to avoid the get from the south end of the strip to the north end and avoid the normal strip traffic. However, the van driver (a foreigner) chose the most circuitous route….215 to 15, then off at Tropicana, up Industrial Blvd. and finally a few back streets to the Stratosphere. Upon arriving at the Stratosphere, the fare was $32.50. Granted that several accidents on 15 at Sahara and Flamingo had traffic backed up, that would not have been an issue had the driver taken the most direct route. This was a rip-off, plain and simple. Your Authority should be more careful in licensing foreigners who chose to prey upon the visitors to your city. I am quite certain that the Stratosphere would much rather have had my money….and I would have much preferred to give it to them…at least I would have gotten the pleasure of losing it willingly. When I complained that the driver had taken the longest possible way from the airport, and that taking Paradise Blvd. would have taken half as long (if not more), the driver’s response was that “Paradise is closed for construction”. Well, it just so happens that I had to take a cab today (11/14) for a meeting and low and behold, Paradise Blvd. looked pretty drivable. Either the van driver was lying, or the public works people in Vegas should be commended for getting road construction done so quickly.