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Las Vegas taxi drivers boycotting certain casinos and hotels

Grassroots group fighting back against rideshares
Posted at 10:06 AM, Jul 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-13 08:37:20-04

The battle between taxi cabs and rideshare companies will continue on the Las Vegas Strip this weekend.

A grassroots group known as Vegas Drivers Unite say they have started a boycott to several different Strip hotel-casinos in an effort to fight back against rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft.

On its website, the group says participating cabbies plan not to pick up any passenger from New York-New York hotel-casino for 72 hours starting Thursday morning and continuing every weekend for the rest of the month.

Last month, the group said they boycotted the Bellagio and next month they plan to boycott Mandalay Bay and Delano.

Earlier this year, the Taxi Cab Authority released numbers showing a decline in taxi ridership in 2017. They claim ridership has been declining the past three years, costing taxi drivers millions of dollars.

Vegas Drivers Unite said they hope by not showing up at casinos and hotels, community leaders will take notice of the importance of taxis and move rideshare companies out of the resort corridor. 

Las Vegas local Sierra Snow said she preferred taking rideshares because they are "cheaper."

"It has been years [since I've taken a taxi]," Snow said.

Out-of-towner Doug Jim said he preferred the convenience of a taxi cab, even if he has to pay extra fees.

"I paid extra fees, but my taxi driver had a big kerfuffle with the Uber drivers, so I'm kind of on his side," Jim said.

Vegas Drivers Unite did not respond to an interview request, so it's unclear how many drivers are participating in the boycott. Taxi drivers are not required to participate, as it is a grassroots effort.