ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A Minneapolis spokesperson says 39 taxi companies were licensed in the city in 2014. This was just before Uber entered the market in 2015. Today, there are just six licensed taxi companies, and four of them are under the same ownership of Blue & White Taxi.
Waleed Sonbol has been the co-owner and CEO for the last 20 years, and his father owned the company beginning in the late 1990s. In 2007, Blue & White Taxi acquired ABC Taxi.
"Then in 2015, after Uber came to town, the gentleman at Rainbow Taxi asked me to buy him out," Sonbol said. "Then I bought out the gentleman at Red & White Taxi."
The St. Louis Park-based company has been around for nearly a century and serves the seven-county metro area.
"It's dealt with regulations from the city, it's dealt with regulations from the state, it's dealt with regulations from the federal government," Sonbol said. "We've never closed up or cried or said, 'We have to leave if you don't do something.' We've been able to adjust and pivot."
They could soon pivot again, as Uber and Lyft vow to leave Minneapolis on May 1 following council's decision to require rideshare companies to raise driver pay. Sonbol says he's getting more inquiries from drivers looking for work.
"We know a lot of drivers at Uber and Lyft, and they've asked us if they can come board if this happens, and we've said, 'Look, let's just wait and see what happens,'" Sonbol said.
With Council Member Andrea Jenkins saying she'd reconsider the ordinance, and a possible vote on April 11, Sonbol says he doubts the companies will leave, but says Blue & White is prepared to hire drivers if they do leave.
"Within a day, we would be able to add between 50 to 75," he said. "It would still be their own vehicles. They'd just need to download our driver app. For us, the only difference is we'd want to put cameras in their cars."
He says the cameras would help ensure drivers are properly serving customers, and that the footage isn't shared.
Blue & White doesn't own any of its cars. They're owned by independent owner operators, and some cars have two drivers. Before COVID, Blue & White had 330 active cars at all times. Its lowest point during the pandemic was 91 vehicles. Sonbol says they now maintain a level of 250 cars.
Sonbol says another way the company has been able to pivot is by tapping into "account business" when other cab companies were big on cash business. He also attributed Blue & White's ability to "stay in the game" to student services, and its high employee retention rate.
Blue & White's app, called Ride Sure, works similarly to Uber and Lyft's apps.
"Driver's name, the plate number … you'll see the progress of the car on your home screen," Sonbol said.
He says the main difference is driver pay.
"Whatever rate you see you're paying in the app to that driver, they get that rate," he said. "We would just take a flat fee. Outside of a credit card processing fee that we charge, they get 95% of it, whereas these guys now, they're getting around 45-55% of the fare depending on how the algorithm works for Uber or Lyft. So yeah, they would be making more money because our overhead isn't — we don't have expensive systems to run. We don't have high salaries to pay for. We don't have lawsuits all over the world we have to pay for either. So our costs aren't the same as theirs."
Council Member Robin Wonsley's aide says at least three rideshare companies are pursuing licenses to try to come to Minneapolis.
As for taxi companies, a city spokesperson says there haven't been any new requests for licenses since council overrode Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of the ordinance's original passage. While it would take 2-6 weeks for a taxi company to obtain a license to operate in Minneapolis, individuals can get a taxi driver permit the same day if they meet requirements and are working with a taxi company licensed in Minneapolis.
The mayor's office sent an update Monday saying Mayor Frey is meeting with key stakeholders to prepare for Uber and Lyft's departure, and to discuss the economic impact.
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