As LAPD Spends Big Money to Crack Down on State-Regulated Limos, Drivers Like Andy Chung Get Screwed
A 150-day sentence is highly unusual in such cases. The city ordinance imposes a $100 fine for a first offense and a $250 fine for a second offense. A third offense can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, but even then it rarely results in jail time, because the crime is considered a "low priority."
"I don't know of any major criminal slumlord who got close to that," UCLA professor Blasi says. The enforcement system, he says, "operates capriciously."
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Technology may further complicate an already confusing system. Uber, a San Francisco–based startup, allows passengers to arrange limo trips with their smartphones. The Uber app works as a booking service for state-licensed town cars. Taxi regulators in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have alleged that Uber is actually operating as a taxi service without following local taxi ordinances.
The company does not appear to have much of a foothold yet in Los Angeles, but if it gains traction here, both the city and the franchised taxi companies are likely to raise similar concerns. These issues would not exist if taxi and limo regulations were integrated.
In Blasi's ideal world, taxi regulation would be handled at a regional level — by the county. That would eliminate the patchwork of municipal ordinances and make it easier to integrate taxi and limo services into a regional transportation network.
"We've evolved a system that's the worst of all worlds at this point," Blasi says. "It doesn't work very well for drivers, and it doesn't work very well for the people who want to use cabs."
Soomi Ko, of Ko & Martin certified interpreters and translators, provided Korean interpretation.
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