Raleigh Council gives cabbies a dress code

RALEIGH -- Taxi drivers in Raleigh are being told what not to wear.

Short shorts, miniskirts, short dresses, T-shirts, tank-tops and flip-flops can no longer be worn by cab drivers under a dress code the Raleigh City Council approved Tuesday. The dress code was one piece of an extensive overhaul of the city's regulations of the taxicab business.

The rules, which go into effect Sunday, also raise the application fees for cab drivers, forbid cars more than 10 years old from being used as cabs and allow the city to deny a permit to an applicant who has a felony, alcohol or drug conviction or has pending criminal charges.

The council initially approved a provision that would have allowed city staff to deny permits to applicants who weren't U.S. citizens but deleted that clause during a Tuesday evening vote.

The ban was met with mixed feelings by cab drivers. Karl-Henry Saint Jean, the sole driver and owner of King Karl's Kab, doesn't favor the city dress code, but said he is grateful that the city is more closely monitoring the cab business.

During public hearings, more than a dozen drivers and cab company owners complained that the city and police scrutinized them while cabs operating without permits or meters took their business.

The city has 116 registered cab companies and 902 registered drivers, said Lorenzo Milliam, one of the city's two taxicab inspectors. But Milliam said unregistered drivers, who operate as less-regulated private transportation companies, often pose as registered cab drivers.

He received one complaint that a private transportation company charged a visitor $40 for a ride from the downtown Sheraton to the 42nd Street Oyster Bar, a mile-long ride that should only cost a few dollars.

Under the new rules, police officers can ticket companies falsely posing as taxicabs.

Harry Jeanniton, owner of Green Taxi, is also glad to see more rules regarding the appearance and cleanliness of cabs and drivers, a measure pushed by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"Think about it," said Jeanniton, who has 47 cabs in his fleet. "If, God bless, you're clean and neat, you need to ride in a car that's neat and clean."

Raleigh City Councilman Phillip Isley, who headed the public safety committee that drafted the rules, said he once took a cab driven by a shirtless man. Isley said he wasn't offended but could easily imagine how a visitor to the city might be less appreciative.

"You get taken to the airport by some dude not even wearing a shirt?" Isley said.

Missing from the ordinance was a proposal pushed by Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan to require cab companies to put video cameras in their cars. Dolan hoped the cameras would help deter crime, a concern after two cab drivers were killed while working in recent years and numerous other drivers reported being robbed.

"They're hardworking people, they're trying to feed their families," Dolan said. "We're very concerned about the incidents of violent crime."

But the cost of the cameras, from $600 to $1,200, would have been too much for drivers and owners, said Jeanniton, the Green Taxi owner.

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