By Brian Trompeter
The recent decline in Fairfax County taxicab certificates has been arrested, at least temporarily, as the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Dec. 5 to keep the number of certificates available at 150.
Taxicab demand has plummeted at least since 2015, largely due to the advent of transportation-network companies (i.e., ride-sharing services) such as Uber and Lyft. The pandemic also dealt another major blow to cab companies.
County code requires the Board of Supervisors in odd-numbered years to set the number of taxicab certificates available to operators.
Using a weighted formula, county staff in its 2023 analysis determined taxicab demand had declined by about 42 percent. The average number of trips per certificate plunged nearly 85 percent.
2013 was the last year when the number of authorized taxicab certificates increased, for an overall fleet total of 654. That number dropped to 368 in 2019, 280 in 2020, 170 in 2021 and 150 in 2022.
Fairfax County has only one taxicab operator, Old Dominion Transportation Group Inc. Supervisors in January renewed only 130 certificates out of an authorized possible total of 542 for the company, but on Dec. 5 acceded to the firm’s request to give it an additional 20 certificates, bringing the total back up to 150.
The certificates will be divided thusly among the company’s various divisions: Fairfax Yellow Cab (Murphy Bros. Inc.) 90, Springfield Yellow Cab (Paul Wallace Management Inc.) 35 and Fairfax Red Top (Fairfax Taxi Inc.) 25. Since last year, White Top Cab (King Cab Co. Inc.) has lost its 20 certificates, while EnviroCab, which had 13 certificates in 2013, has had none since 2019.
While ride-sharing services are meeting the needs of many passengers, on-demand taxicabs still perform an important service for people who are unable to use public transportation or who rely on cabs for basic transportation needs, and students with disabilities and special needs, county officials said.
Cabs in 2022 served more than 385,000 people and provided 1,522 wheelchair-accessible trips, officials said. Cab operators with 25 or more certificates must have at least 4-percent of their vehicles be wheelchair-accessible.
