Association Member News

President Judy Swystun led TLPA through a year of serious self-examination. With the assistance of our strategic planning consultant, The Forbes Group, our "how do we best serve our members?" evaluation led to the successful adoption of a strategic plan that is already beginning to pay huge dividends for TLPA member companies. Details on TLPA's strategic plan are provided in this article.

Of course, the world kept moving while our strategic plan was being developed, so President Swystun led the association in responding to a series of threats and opportunities.

In the courts, President Swystun led TLPA to its first U.S. Supreme Court victory. TLPA, in conjunction with other concerned parties, filed an amici curiae brief in support of the appeal to overturn a local requirement in Southern California that fleet operators that pick up passengers at airports be required to operate alternative-fueled vehicles. A Legislative Alert reviewing this victory was issued to all members on May 25, 2004.

In Congress, President Swystun aggressively pursued a pro-private operator transit reauthorization bill. In this effort she sponsored TLPA's first congressional petition drive, which led to over 250 signed petitions, and she initiated the formation of the Coalition of Private Sector Transportation Associations to lobby for pro-private sector provisions in the transit reauthorization. The result was that the Senate passed the most pro-private operator transit bill ever.

The House bill, however, was not as good for private operators. Before the Senate and House could resolve the differences in the two bills, Congress adjourned, and the transit reauthorization legislation will have to be passed in 2005. Fortunately, the Senate has a good bill that we expect will be reintroduced very soon. TLPA is hopeful that the House will amend its bill to also be supportive of private operator participation in the federal transit program. A series of Legislative Alerts on the transit reauthorization were issued on February 5, February 17, and March 29, 2004, and TLPA published legislative updates in our newsletters and magazines.

Independent contractor driver performance was another area of focus for President Swystun. She brought together a group of TLPA members to meet with TLPA's general counsel to determine how member companies can best work with independent contractor drivers. TLPA also supported the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Foundation commissioning a paper on the effects independent contractor drivers have on transportation services.

President Swystun led the Board of Directors in changing its policy on not getting involved in local regulatory or legislative matters. Now, any TLPA member can petition the Executive Committee to have the association take a formal position in a local policy/regulatory/legislative matter. The member's request must be in writing and respond to ten questions for the Executive Committee's consideration. TLPA will charge a fee for this new service.

Along with her adoption of the strategic plan, Supreme Court victory, congressional advancements, and approval of TLPA activism at the local level, President Swystun ended her year as TLPA president with the fifth-largest membership, the third-largest Spring Conference attendance, the tenth-largest Annual Convention attendance and the fourth-largest trade show in TLPA's 87-year history.

Strategic Plan implemented

A two-year effort started by President Gene Hauck in 2003 and completed by President Swystun in 2004 led to the Board of Directors approving a formal strategic plan, our first ever.

Phase I of identifying key issues was followed by Phase II of adopting a formal plan. Phase III was the adoption of an implementation plan to make certain our goals and objectives are achieved. As part of that process, it was determined that in 2005, staff will be expanded by one position and our fiscal resources will be reallocated to assure that our implementation plan will be accomplished.

The job of TLPA is to meet our members' needs. In the past, TLPA focused on meeting industry needs, but over the past couple of years there has been an evolution to focus directly on specific member needs. This subtle shift in focus will now become more pronounced as TLPA moves to:

• Get involved in local policy disputes
• Become more proactive in assisting our members win the battle to capture emerging markets and
• Implement programs designed specifically to give TLPA members a competitive advantage over non-member operators in every aspect of the for-hire transportation industry.

Our strategic plan is meant to move us down the path of more direct and better member service.

The summary of our strategic plan is presented in the box on this page.

Legislation

The legislative briefing that Executive Vice President Alfred LaGasse and TLPA Special Counsel for Transportation Legislation Kenneth Butler gave at the Annual Convention & Trade Show in Orlando presented a clear and optimistic picture of TLPA's legislative efforts in 2004 and ongoing objectives for 2005. The legislative program they reviewed detailed seven issues that will be addressed in the transit reauthorization legislation in 2005. The top three issues are:

• The transit labor union special interest protections — commonly referred to as Section 13(c) — must be neutralized in how they can be used to deny transit agencies the right to even consider contracting with private operators. No special interest group's rights should be permitted to void another group's (private operators) right to receive fair consideration to participate in the federal transit program.

• Private operators should be eligible subrecipients of federal transit funds. Like any other recipient of federal funds, private operators would have to go through the local transit planning process and have their project selected by local officials to be sent forward to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Over time, we believe this would lead to significant new efficiencies in the federal transit program.

• The anti-private sector planning provision — Section 5305(e)(3) — must be repealed, so that private operators have a fair opportunity in the local transit planning process. It is an affront to all private operators that the only federal planning requirement that cannot be enforced by the federal government is the requirement to include private operators in the planning process.

Butler commented that the increased Republican majority should be good news to private operators and that 2005 will be the year private operators take a giant step forward in their right to participate in the federal transit program. Victory is achievable provided that all TLPA members stay focused and push Congress hard to vote for transit efficiency instead of voting for transit labor union special interests. A pro-private operator vote is a vote for the transit riding public and taxpayers everywhere.

Relationship building

With the relationships that the association and its members made with members of Congress in 2004, the groundwork has been laid for a transit reauthorization bill favorable to TLPA to become law in 2005. An impressive number of TLPA members made calls, sent letters and visited members of Congress and/or their staff in Washington and their home offices.

President Swystun took the lead in our outreach efforts. She spoke with the offices of both Virginia Senators, George Allen and John Warner. She faxed personalized letters to all Senate and House conferees to the Transit Title of the reauthorization bill. Swystun also traveled to Washington to meet with House Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri and Senate staff on transit issues, and she and TLPA Director Stan Rakestraw met with Reps. Bobby Rush and William Lipinski from Chicago, asking for assistance in getting pro-private sector provisions adopted by the House in the reauthorization legislation.

Other members who made extraordinary efforts to build relationships with their Representatives and Senators to promote TLPA's legislative initiatives included Jamie Campolongo (Pa.), Ham Smythe III (Tenn.), Ham Smythe IV (Tenn.), James McLary (Va.), Charlie King (Va.), Sheri Watson (Mo.), Brian McBride (Ohio), Brian Wier (Ariz.), Craig Hughes (Ariz.), Margie Wilcox (Ala.) who has been TLPA's key contact with Senator Shelby of Alabama for the past two years, Joe Chernow (Texas), Roman Martinez (Texas), Kisan Khandelwal (N.C.), Michael Bulleigh (Kan.), Ellis Houston (Ala.), who also contacted Senators in Arkansas and Mississippi, Victor Dizengoff (N.Y.), Bill Yuhnke (N.Y.), Lisa Yuhnke (N.Y.), Larry Slagle (Calif.), Brian Hunt (Calif.), Dale Victor (Minn.), Bill Legare (R.I.), Jim Bennett (Ill.), Murray Rosenberg (N.J.) and Rick Hewatt (Ga.).

President Swystun led the effort to unite all national trade associations that represent private transportation operators into one coalition. Through her efforts, the Coalition of Private Transportation Associations was formed to push for passage of pro-private operator rights in the transit reauthorization legislation. The founding members of the coalition are TLPA, American Bus Association, American Transit Services Council, National School Transportation Association, United Motorcoach Association, and the state associations Alabama Motorcoach Association, California Bus Association, Taxicab Paratransit Association of California and Virginia Taxicab Association.

With the relationships that have been built through member/congressional contacts and the Coalition of Private Transportation Associations, TLPA is poised to see the passage of transit reauthorization legislation more favorable to private operators than any previous transit legislation in U.S. history.

Technical assistance & communications

TLPA continues to evaluate how best to reach our members. Currently we communicate through e-mail, our web site, meetings, newsletters, magazines, Legislative Alerts and more.

Technical assistance is an area where TLPA often shines. In particular, our published studies on taxicab regulations and our regulatory and driver orientation videos are superior.

Our three annual Fact Books for taxicab, limousine and paratransit services are documents that meet a real need. Good data that is not available from any other source is worth much more than the $15 TLPA charges members to purchase a Fact Book. Of course, those member companies that complete the Fact Book questionnaires will continue to automatically receive a complimentary copy of the results. Please note: the price of TLPA's Fact Books will increase significantly in 2005 so order your back issues now by using the order form available in the Studies & Reports section of the web site.

The TLPA Membership Directory is an all-in-one resource for TLPA members to contact one another, with extensive contact information for all member divisions, including e-mail addresses and web site URLs, fleet sizes for transportation operators, sales and toll-free numbers for associate members, and product or transportation service descriptions for all division members who provide TLPA with that information. The directory's indices have become more useful, with more planned for the 2005-2006 edition.

Transportation Leader continues to address the concerns of TLPA members with articles relevant to taxicab, limousine, sedan, paratransit, non-emergency medical and airport shuttle transportation operators, in addition to notifying all readers of significant association and industry events. In 2004, the magazine covered such industry-related topics as client retention; contracting with the federal government; updates on TLPA members promoting private sector transportation company involvement to Congress; how making your transportation company high-tech can increase revenue; advantages of using local operators in contracts; a summary of industry statistics for taxicab, limousine, sedan, paratransit and contracting companies; radio system licensing; gatekeeping brokerage models; optimizing a limousine company for the changing seasons; and the taxicab industries in Russia, Barcelona, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands.

Transportation Leader also continues to be a showcase for high-quality product and service providers, who advertise in the magazine, participate in the Buyers' Guide product and industry guide each April, and appear in the listing of TLPA's Annual Convention & Trade Show exhibitors that is published every October.

Published six times a year, TLPA's newsletters — Dispatch, Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit — provide news pertinent to all in the for-hire passenger transportation industry and more specific information that applies to members of our three operator divisions. In 2004, Dispatch had a strong focus on legislative and regulatory issues, with articles on President Swystun successfully pushing for last-minute changes before the House passed its six-year highway transit bill; her submission of testimony on how to maximize private sector participation in transportation to the House of Representatives; NLRB decisions that determine that lease taxicab drivers are independent contractors; and the pressure for accessible taxicabs and liveries in the United States.

President Swystun's columns in Dispatch discussed working with regulators; updates on TLPA's strategic plan and how it should help members anticipate changes in ridership, demand for service, and other aspects of the industry; TLPA's Mid-Year Conference in Digby, Nova Scotia; the large role that TLPA committees play in formulating policy; and more.

Among the changes made by the TLPA Board in 2004 will be a change in format of TLPA's current newsletters, and at least one additional electronic newsletter that will go out to members. Dispatch will provide updates on these changes in 2005.

TLPA's web site reflects our meetings, public relations and legislative work, with links to upcoming meeting information, member and industry news, and TLPA award winner information on the home page. Non-members may join TLPA directly through our site, and members and non-members alike may register for TLPA events and buy TLPA publications and other resources through the web site. In late 2004, our discussion board moved out of the Members Only section, and we hope to see more operator input on the board this year.

Meetings

As President Swystun noted, "We have rebounded in our meeting attendance." After the attacks on 9/11/01, our meeting attendance dropped, vendor support declined and revenues plummeted. In 2004, we saw the return to larger attendance, strong vendor support and increased revenues at our three annual conferences.

Our Spring Conference, held in San Diego in May, indicated that our meetings were back on the right track. In San Diego, we had our third-largest attendance ever for a Spring Conference, and vendor support in exhibits and three major sponsorships were the best ever for a Spring Conference. The Taxicab Paratransit Association of California co-sponsoring the conference greatly contributed to its success.

This year's Mid-Year Conference was about 25 percent larger than last year's meeting, and nearly the entire board turned out for the important conference, where the Board debated, then adopted the strategic plan.

The Annual Convention & Trade Show in Orlando was our tenth-largest in attendance (nearly 800 participants) and our fourth largest in vendor support (100 exhibits). Our host operator, Mears Transportation Group, provided a well organized tour of their exceptional facilities and sponsored transportation for the convention. Vendor support was great, with TaxiPro/PIU, Gateway Insurance, Liberty Motor Company, Mobile Knowledge, and American Country Insurance all sponsoring a convention event or item. The convention survey results confirmed that it was the best Annual Convention & Trade Show of this decade.

Foundation

The Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Foundation (TLPF) is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable and educational foundation. It was established in 1987 with the initiative of John Hall of Arkansas and John Davidson of California. Hall and Davidson were the first two foundation presidents. The foundation's current president is Neal Nichols of Virginia.

Financially, the foundation started off modestly with a small contribution from TLPA. Then, in 1990, TLPF received a generous contribution from the estate of longtime member Herman R. Tate of California to establish a college scholarship program for students committed to enter the taxicab business and to sponsor public policy research to promote our industry. It has been the interest from the $500,000 contribution and ongoing member contributions that have given the foundation a sufficient corpus to generate interest income to support its annual programs.

TLPF's Transportation Management Institute (TMI) was established in 1996, and provides scholarships to students based on need. TLPF has provided scholarship assistance to students who wanted to make passenger ground transportation management their career choice. With the establishment of the TMI, TLPF established a scholarship program to assist TLPA members with smaller companies send staff for management training.

TLPF sponsors research on public policy issues affecting private sector transportation services. TLPF has supported the Price Waterhouse study, "Analysis of Taxicab Deregulation and Re-Regulation" the Institute for Transportation Research and Education study, "Review of Taxicab Regulatory Changes in Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Seattle" and the video, "Regulation Makes a Difference." You may order these through the Studies & Reports section of the web site.

For the past several years, the foundation has concentrated its efforts on the first two areas by presenting TMI courses. In 2004, TLPF returned its efforts to the third program area - research. TLPF has commissioned Dr. Ray Mundy of the University of Missouri-St. Louis to develop two research papers. The first, "Independent Contractor White Paper," focuses on the value that independent contractor drivers bring to the transportation industry and how regulatory provisions can serve to enhance the service provided by independent contractor drivers. The paper explains how independent contractor drivers are service-oriented. The paper shows the academic merits of TLPA's argument that using independent contractor drivers is a better business model because of the entrepreneurship of independent contractor drivers.

The second research paper, "Regulatory Provisions that Foster Quality, Community-Wide Taxicab Service," focuses on the value that full-service transportation companies provide to communities and what regulatory provisions serve to strengthen full-service companies. The goal is to produce a document that members can present to public officials to educate them about how the taxicab industry operates. This paper will note why a community needs full-service companies to maintain quality drivers, quality vehicles, 24-hour service, proper insurance and short-trip coverage.

Upon completion of these papers in early 2005, the foundation will develop a videotape espousing the key aspects of the papers.

Industry outreach

In support of President Swystun's efforts to begin implementation of the TLPA strategic plan, specifically, to establish an outreach program to public, private, and non-profit organizations in order to expand business and market knowledge for TLPA members, TLPA staff participated on a variety of research, governmental, and educational boards and committees.

TLPA is a member of the FTA Accessibility & Coordination Work Group, which was formed to advise the U.S. Department of Transportation on how Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research paid for by FTA grants can be utilized to improve the accessibility and coordination of all ground transportation. TLPA also is an ex-officio member of the Rural Transit Action Program National Program Review Board. Each year, staff addresses at least one of the Review Board's semiannual meetings on TLPA issues.

TLPA is a founding member of the National Consortium of Human Services Transportation. The consortium was formed in 2002 to advise the Federal Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) on the obstacles to coordination, best practices in coordinating human services transportation, and to provide technical assistance. CCAM is comprised of 10 federal agencies to which President Bush has assigned the tasks of eliminating duplication and overlapping federal programs, identifying useful practices and improving the coordination of federally supported transportation services at all levels.

Early in 2004, CCAM launched United We Ride, a five-part initiative to encourage government agencies and non-profit organizations to collaborate on transportation planning and share resources in order to provide the best service for all their customers. TLPA has participated in United We Ride planning meetings and in the National Leadership Forum that was held in Washington, D.C., on February 24-25. This forum included 43 governor-appointed senior leadership teams, seeking to raise the visibility of coordination among state leaders and secure commitments to action to support coordination efforts.

Another aspect of its outreach efforts in 2004 had TLPA participating in a collaborative Governmental Affairs Conference presented by five national organizations (The ARC, United Cerebral Palsy, the American Association on Mental Retardation, The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, and the Association of University Centers on Disability). The conference had 500 attendees and was an opportunity for TLPA to introduce itself and its legislative agenda to a diverse group representing clients who use operator member services. TLPA also served on the Transportation Research Board's Paratransit Committee, the Z15 Fleet Standards committee of the American National Standards Institute, and many more.

In 1988, Congress established a national research and demonstration project to identify and promote innovation in public transportation for people with disabilities. Named Project ACTION, its mission expanded in 1990 with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since its inception TLPA staff or a TLPA member has served on the Project ACTION National Steering Committee. In 2003, TLPA collaborated with project ACTION to produce the "Taxicab Pocket Guide" to advise taxicab divers on how to serve people with disabilities.

At the 2004 Annual Convention & Trade Show in Orlando, Dr. Alan Abeson, Executive Director of Easter Seals Project ACTION made a presentation on training and technical assistance materials and training resources available to TLPA members. Project ACTION also had a display booth in the Exhibit Hall.

Another aspect of the association's outreach is that TLPA officers and/or staff also participated in other meetings in 2004, including the Annual Convention of the International Association of Transportation Regulators, the Transportation Research Board, the Limo Digest Show, the LCT Show and the Southern Taxicab Conference.

Industry image

Obtaining good public relations is a tough chore for an industry that is plagued by illegal operators and by poorly regulated operators who are able to provide bad service in poor vehicles. This industry failing is brought about by bad regulations, insufficient enforcement, and some bad operators and drivers.

TLPA sends out Quality Goal Certificates to each transportation company member with guidelines to meet in order to provide quality service. The new strategic plan calls for TLPA to address our industry's service problems by taking the lead in proactively determining what is an acceptable level of service. Different levels of public service are appropriate for the different market segments that make up our industry as well as for the different populations we service.

This effort will take time but it is important and it is worth us all taking the time to do it correctly. Once we have service standards, we then have a platform to launch a meaningful public relations initiative to address industry service issues.

To promote the best in service that our industry offers the public, TLPA sponsors the Operator of the Year Awards. In 2004, the following TLPA members were selected by their peers as outstanding operators in our industry: Jim Donnelly, Aboutown Transportation, London, Ontario, Canada, TLPA Taxicab Large Fleet Operator of the Year; Bill Yuhnke, Liberty and Yellow Cab Cos., Buffalo, N.Y., TLPA Taxicab Small Fleet Operator of the Year; Joseph Cirruzzo, Sr., A Elegant International Limousines, Staten Island, N.Y., TLPA Limousine & Sedan Operator of the Year; and Stan Rakestraw, SCR Medical Transportation, Inc., Chicago, Ill., TLPA Paratransit & Contracting Operator of the Year. Each of these operators runs a high-quality transportation company that provides both exemplary service to passengers and a good environment for workers.

Drivers provide a critical link in our industry's service to the public. To recognize the very best drivers, TLPA sponsors the Driver of the Year Awards. This year, TLPA presented awards to: Joseph W. Matthews, Yellow Transportation/Connex, Baltimore, Md., Taxicab Driver of the Year; David E. Robinson, Mobile Bay Transportation Co., Inc., Mobile, Ala., Limousine & Sedan Chauffeur of the Year; and James R. Anderson, Transit Express, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., Paratransit & Contracting Driver of the Year. In addition to being safe and courteous drivers, both Mr. Matthews and Mr. Anderson are U.S. Army veterans, and Mr. Robinson has logged in an incredible 40-plus years of accident-free driving.

In January 2004, TLPA again began selling member decals that identify a vehicle as being part of a TLPA member fleet, and therefore part of a company that cares about providing a high quality of service. As of print date, approximately 4,800 decals had been sold. For information on obtaining member decals for your company vehicles, please call TLPA at (301) 946-5701.

Conclusion

President Swystun led TLPA through a groundbreaking year. With the adoption of the strategic plan and its implementation plan, TLPA is focusing its efforts as never before. The beneficiary of this increased focus and dedication will be TLPA member companies and their passengers. TLPA is working to give our member companies the tools to be more successful (higher quality, more profitable, better informed) than non-member companies. As a result, the customers served by member companies will receive better service.

As President Swystun said at the 2004 Annual Convention & Trade Show, "Any company in the local for-hire passenger transportation industry who wants to be successful and provide quality customer service needs to be a member of TLPA. We invite all transportation companies to join TLPA now and reap the benefits."