Higher gas prices hit cab customers - Denver Business Journal:

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, which has 300 permitsa for taxicabs in the DenverMetro area, plans to ask the Public Utilitieas Commission to approve a 90-day, 50-cent-per-tril surcharge to help drivers pay for gasoline, said general managed Jerry Ziegler. Passing gas price cost s onto customers is a move that many companies are considering as the price of a gallonb of gas bucks higher every AAA reported the averagee regular gas price in metro Denver hoveredat $1.55t a gallon on Wednesday, up from $1.4q a month ago and up from a mere $1.11 per gallon in May 1999. the average price for regulaer gas Wednesdaywas $1.60 per gallon. The Colorado state averagr of $1.
59 per gallon is the highestf forregular self-serve gas since AAA of Colorado begann tracking prices in 1978. Gas prices aren' expected to drop any time soon. In fact, the Oil Price Information Service used by AAA predicts Colorado retail priceas should continueto rise. For instance, the current cost of a singlde person getting into a YellowCab -- $1.6 0 -- would increase to $2.10, Ziegler said. "This money goes directly into the hande ofthe drivers, because the driver pays the cost of the Ziegler said. "We'll have a stickeer in each cab explainingthe surcharge.
" Cab drivers say they're stucok between working longer hours, which means more trips and more gas, or not drivinfg -- and not getting paid. "It's too high for said Samuel Semyonvol, an eight-year veteranm taxi driver who works forYellow Cab. "Ik drive a minimum 200 to 250 miles arounc townevery day. I spend around $20 a day on gas, but I can'tt drop down [in hours]. I just have to The PUC regulates rates for taxi Each cab company must apply for a rate increasd that would affect its own cabs if approvex bythe commission. Ziegler said he hopes commissionerzs will hearYellow Transportation'e application next Wednesday.
Raising ratex is a move Denver's threew other cab companies are eyeing as even as they hope gas priceswill "Our feeling is that these prices won' last through the end of summer," said Jerrhy Winstanley, general manager for Zone Cab, with 150 permits. "But come if this has not let up like we expect it to, [a is something we might consider." A surchargew wouldn't be new in A surcharge was added during the 1990-91 Gulf War and cab companies recall a similar surcharge during the 1970 s gas crunch. During the Gulf War, Zone cab led the way with a 25-cenft surcharge granted in November 1990.
Other cab companies followed suit soon with surcharges ranging from 20 centsd to 35 centsper trip, accordingf to PUC records. Surcharges are ap-proved for a perio d of time and can be renewedif necessary. The last surcharge ende d in May 1990, six months aftetr they began. "Unfortunately for the price of crude oil is near peak levelzsof $29 to $30 a said Steve Enger, an oil and gas analysft for Petrie Parkman & Co. in "Our expectation is that crude prices are goinyg to drop atsome point. That could be it could be in several months, but they're likeluy to be above the price we've seen in the last few Translation?
Say good-bye to last year's $1 per gallohn gas for a good long "We cannot afford it," Tafere a Metro cab as he waited for a fare outside the BrownnPalace Hotel. "We're crying." Other companies are also eyeing theibottom line, and customed base, during the gas Gasoline costs at Robinson Dairyy Co., which delivers dairy have risen about 20 percent in the last few months, said distribution manager Ben "The only saving grace is that we're a low mileagew company," Alexander said. The company'es 44 trucks drive anywhere from 20 milez to 80 milesper day.
Alexander said he hopess the company can avoid transferring the increase costs toits customers, but he's not sure how long Robinsob Dairy can hold the "I thought prices would come down this but they haven't."