Exactly two weeks before the Anchorage assembly is set to vote on a major overhaul of taxi regulations, a cab driver was reportedly beaten, robbed and left unconscious in the Anchorage neighborhood of Mountain View. Among the proposed regulations is a provision that would require all cabs to carry video cameras, a measure that some say will help prevent or solve such crimes in the future.
Last Tuesday, Anchorage police received a report that a cab driver had been beaten up by three men after driving them to the Arctic Tern Inn. The driver, identified as Atiqullah Khalil, 54, had picked up the men from the Hilton Hotel, on Third Avenue and E Street in downtown Anchorage, Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Anita Shell said.
When Khalil and his passengers arrived at the inn, the men told him to pull into an alley behind the building, Khalil told police. That's when Khalil said the three men began to punch him in the back of the head. Khalil tried to run, but the men followed him outside the car, according to witness reports. They began hitting him and kicking him in the face repeatedly until he lost consciousness, Shell said. The men then rifled through his pockets and took his wallet.
The men, described by a witness as three Samoans in their 20s, remain at large. Police have only "very vague descriptions" of the men, Shell said. "Not much to go on."
The attack came just two weeks before the Anchorage assembly reviews an overhaul of Title 11, the municipal code regulating chauffeur services like taxis and limousines. The list of proposed changes includes one that would mandate video cameras in every cab.
Shell welcomed the proposed changes. "I think it would serve as a deterrent and as an identifier," she said.
Many taxis already have cameras installed, but the mandatory surveillance would provide "safety all around, for everybody," said Mike Foley, senior code enforcement officer with the transportation inspector's office, which regulates taxis in Anchorage.
Foley said the inspector's office sees "all kinds of little incidents" in which cameras would provide some useful clarity. For instance, sometimes cab drivers are accused of stealing property that is allegedly left behind in a cab. Video footage would help to verify or disprove such claims.
"We need that video tape to show us exactly what happened," said Anchorage Assemblyman Dick Traini, referencing last week's attack
The overhaul of Title 11 includes other major changes to how taxis are run, including a hike in fees for licensing and permitting of taxis. Traini, who picked up the ordinance from departing member Debbie Ossiander, said the increased fees would fund two new full-time transportation inspectors for the municipality, positions that "in a town of 300,000 (people) we definitely need," he said. There is currently only one half-time inspector who oversees the regulation of taxis and limousines in the city, Traini said.
The proposed regulations would also mandate that taxis respond immediately to requests to transport disabled passengers, whether the callers need wheelchair-accessible vehicles or accommodation for service animals. The disabled community is a population Traini said has been neglected by cabs in the past. For service animals in particular, the question is a little tricky. Because some folks have animal allergies, taxis face potentially harming subsequent customers after providing a ride for people accompanied by service animals.
"What is the happy medium?" Traini asked. He hopes a work session will hash out a solution to the issue the day before the regular assembly meeting on Dec. 3.
Laren Eggleston, call center manager at Checker Cab, said that the company is "all for" having cameras in every cab. Other changes to the regulations may be problematic, however.
The changes include a mandate that every vehicle have front- or all-wheel drive. But Checker Cab's taxi fleet contains mostly retired police vehicles -- Crown Victorias, with rear-wheel drive.
"We really don't have very many accidents," Eggleston said, but "for some reason (the assembly) thinks that's something they want."
The mandate surrounding handicapped vehicles has also become "quite an issue" among cab drivers. The proposed changes state that a cab must immediately serve a call for a handicapped individual, even if the taxi is waiting in the cab line at the airport, and the call comes from across town, Eggleston said.
Assemblyman Patrick Flynn said the ordinance has "managed to irritate everybody at this point." Advocates for people with disabilities say the changes don't go far enough while drivers say that it creates an unnecessary burden on them.
The ordinance changes were first introduced to the assembly by Ossiander, who wanted to provide specific service to the Eagle River and Chugiak area. But the ordinance continued to mutate, and more amendments were stacked on from there, to become a "massive beast" the assembly is now taking up, Flynn said.
"Taxi cab regulation is not a simple matter," said Flynn, who's not sure the proposed changes will work.
An update to Title 11 "hasn't been done in years," Traini said, necessitating major updates, and the proposed ordinance has ballooned to 68 pages. The proposed changes to Title 11 are up for debate at Assembly Chambers in Loussac Library on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Will it pass? Traini isn't sure. Based on his 14 years on the Anchorage assembly, he said it could go either way. "It's like herding cats. You're never quite sure which way they're heading."
Contact Laurel Andrews at laurel(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @Laurel_Andrews