San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co

An attempt by Los Angeles city transportation officials to revoke the operating franchise of one of two Valley taxi firms may become bogged down in a legal morass. The city Transportation Commission recommended in June that city officials revoke the franchise from the San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co., citing the firm's failure to provide promised services, such as a computerized dispatching system and seven wheelchair-accessible cabs.

An attempt by Los Angeles city transportation officials to revoke the operating franchise of one of two Valley taxi firms may become bogged down in a legal morass. The city Transportation Commission recommended in June that city officials revoke the franchise from the San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co., citing the firm's failure to provide promised services, such as a computerized dispatching system and seven wheelchair-accessible cabs.

Los Angeles city officials Thursday told the two taxi firms that serve the San Fernando Valley that they should eliminate the bitterness in their business rivalry that has led to accusations of illegal actions against both firms. The call for peace came from the Los Angeles City Board of Transportation Commissioners, which met to hear evidence gathered by city transportation inspectors against Valley Cab Co. and San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co.

Los Angeles city transportation commissioners Thursday placed San Fernando Checker Cab Co. on six months probation for illegally referring Valley customers to cab companies or car shuttle services operating without city licenses. Checker Cab, owned by Burbank-based Babaeian Transportation Co., began serving the San Fernando Valley this year after winning a costly lobbying campaign to break an eight-year monopoly held by Valley Cab Co.

Los Angeles city transportation commissioners Thursday placed San Fernando Checker Cab Co. on six months probation for illegally referring Valley customers to cab companies or car shuttle services operating without city licenses. Checker Cab, owned by Burbank-based Babaeian Transportation Co., began serving the San Fernando Valley this year after winning a costly lobbying campaign to break an eight-year monopoly held by Valley Cab Co.

A Los Angeles City Council committee Monday recommended revoking the operating permit for a taxi company serving the San Fernando Valley and called for an alternative transportation plan for local residents. Babaeian Transportation Co., parent company of the San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co., should lose its license because the company failed to provide state-of-the-art services as promised, said Councilman Nate Holden, chairman of the council's transportation committee.

A Los Angeles city transportation panel recommended Thursday that the operating permit of one of the two taxi companies serving the San Fernando Valley be revoked, citing the firm's repeated failure to provide promised services. But at the request of the financially troubled San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co.

The city of Los Angeles has been unable to collect $20,000 performance bonds from two San Fernando Valley taxi firms that were penalized seven months ago for violating franchise agreements. The city's Board of Transportation Commissioners assessed the penalties on Oct. 29 against Valley Cab Co., which was accused of running misleading ads in phone books, and San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co., which failed to provide services as promised.

GOP congressional candidate Rich Sybert has retained a professor of statistics to prove, scientifically, that voters in 1994 were led to believe through literature mailed to them by U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) that Sybert was engaged in illegal conduct. The poll is key evidence in a lawsuit Sybert has filed against Beilenson and his political consultant, Craig Miller, accusing them of defaming him during their bitter 1994 campaign.

Los Angeles city officials Thursday told the two taxi firms that serve the San Fernando Valley that they should eliminate the bitterness in their business rivalry that has led to accusations of illegal actions against both firms. The call for peace came from the Los Angeles City Board of Transportation Commissioners, which met to hear evidence gathered by city transportation inspectors against Valley Cab Co. and San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co.