Delay sought on hybrid cab requirement

Concern raised that rule will drive out smaller taxi firms

After more than two decades running a small cab company out of Dorchester, Edward Kempner was thinking about calling it quits. So when the city of Boston established new requirements last year for expensive hybrid taxis, the 65-year-old Stoughton resident accelerated his decision.

Kempner is selling his Andrew Square Garage to a much larger company, Boston Cab of East Boston, turning over 26 valuable city of Boston taxi medallions. The decision means his garage will close, putting a handful of mechanics and meter technicians out of work along with an untold number of the 125 cabdrivers who work for or lease from him.

His case has ignited a fear among some city officials and a cabdrivers' union that rules intended to ensure cleaner air in Boston could lead to increased consolidation among cab companies, as deep-pocketed companies buy the medallions of their smaller rivals, which cannot afford new hybrid cabs.

"I wasn't thrilled about the change, and I timed my retirement to go before the requirement would fall into place for me," he said. "But a certain number of people will never drive a Boston taxi again."

Kempner probably will not be the last small cab operator to leave the industry under the new regulations, which require all the city's 1,825 cabs to be hybrids by 2015. The concern about the expensive upgrade requirement has led some cab operators to sue the city in a bid to delay imposition of the new rules.

Now the City Council may join the debate, with a proposed ordinance that would impose a six-month moratorium on medallion transfers while the court case plays out and city officials battle over the rules.

"The bigger companies can go out and purchase fleets of hybrids and just make the investments and others can't," said Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, who is to introduce a proposed ordinance today for a six-month moratorium to stop what he fears could be a "stampede" of transfers.

"I don't want to see the city medallion licenses consolidated into the hands of a few large companies," he said.

But Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis called a moratorium "ill-advised" and said the Police Department, which runs the hackney division, is willing to waive or postpone the new requirements for individual operators that show a financial hardship.

"We do understand the economy is real tough and we understand there are problems with credit markets and we could take that into consideration, but it should be done on a case-by-case basis," Davis said.

Davis said he has seen no evidence so far of a flood of medallion transfers. "The fundamental issue here is the quality of taxis in the city," he said, "and the fact that the mayor is committed to eco-friendly vehicles and making sure that we have quality transportation."

Donna Blythe-Shaw, the United Steelworkers staff representative for Boston taxi drivers, said she supports Murphy's proposal and shares his concern that an increase in medallion transfers could cause more drivers to lose their jobs.

"The only people that will make out on this are the very wealthy medallion owners," Blythe-Shaw said. "So the small owner will lose his livelihood, our shift drivers will lose their jobs, and our lessees will lose their means of income."

A group of taxi cab operators sued the city this week, saying that the new Boston requirement could put them out of business. They also said the city is violating the Federal Clean Air act by attempting to regulate emission and clean-air standards, which the operators say are the domain of federal government.

Kempner earned a chemistry degree in the 1970s and was planning to work at Polaroid, but found himself out of work when the company initiated a hiring freeze. So, he started driving a cab to make ends meet. After a friend suggested he was wasting money renting a vehicle, he decided to buy a cab. After six months he bought another one, setting the path for the business he now is planning to leave behind.

"I've enjoyed all the aspects of the business," he said. "The increasing costs will lead to people selling and wanting to get out. But also there are emerging people who are willing to buy these hybrids."

He said it was too late, though, for the City Council to prevent people like himself from selling.

"This is quite a change in the industry, and some people can't handle that," said Kempner who is not a party to the suit against the city. "The horse is out of the barn already. People have made decisions.

"Don't put a hold on the transfers, put a hold on the regulation," he said.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.