AURORA | People in need of a ride in metro Denver don’t often stand near the edge of the curb with their arm outstretched, hoping to grab the attention of a passing taxi.
These days, they reach into their pocket and pull up the Uber or Lyft app on their phone.
But a group of local taxi drivers are confident that there is still a broad segment of people who prefer a brightly-colored taxi to a civilian driving their own car.
Aurora-based All Cities Taxi launched this week with close to 20 cars and drivers. The new company, which is made up primarily of driver-owners who immigrated to Aurora from Ethiopia, plans to grow to about 250 cars within a few months.
“By early next year we should be to full capacity,” All Cities president Haileyesus Desta said last week at their new offices at 10 S. Havana St.
Desta said the drivers behind All Cities are already driving for limo companies and car services in the metro area, and some have decades of experience.
“Most of us have been in the transportation sector for quite a while,” he said.
But as solo drivers, marketing their business isn’t an easy task, he said.
“As independent companies it’s very difficult, even though we have our own clients that we take care of,” he said. “We said, ‘Why don’t we work collectively and create that impact?’”
Desta said that while car share services like Uber and Lyft have grown in popularity‚ and gobbled up some of the market share that taxi cabs used to rely on, he isn’t worried about launching a traditional cab company in this era.
Taxis are regulated by the state’s Public Utility Commission and the drivers have to undergo licensing and background checks that Uber drivers don’t, Desta said. Customers will appreciate that extra level of professionalism, he said.
“We believe if we provide good service, the chances of people using us repeatedly and referring us to family and friends is going to be very high,” he said.
Beyond the 250 drivers, Desta said the company will employ about 20 other people working as dispatchers, accountants and other roles.
Those jobs will be in Aurora, Desta said, and the company is especially focused on serving Aurora and the eastern chunk of the metro area.
“Aurora is our home and we want to truly serve Aurora,” he said.
Chuck Hahn, Small Business Specialist at the Aurora South Metro Small Business Development Center, said city staff helped All Cities draft the business plan they submitted to the PUC.
The company is an important addition to the city, Hahn said, because beyond the driver jobs it will create, it will spark jobs for mechanics and others who work alongside the company.
“There is that cascading effect,” he said.
While it might seem like a tough time to jump into the taxi business with Uber and Lyft thriving, Hahn said the company has shown a willingness to be flexible and look into some “non-traditional revenue streams.”
That could include things like package delivery down the road, Hahn said.
“There may be some opportunity for taxis who have traditionally not done this to get into that marketplace,” he said.