Wild West Limo Scene
Rogue limo drivers poach fares and menace passengers, while those who play by the rules lose out.
KEVIN WILLIAMS NEVER THOUGHT he’d be a chauffeur, much less run a limo company. “I was an actor, working here and in Vancouver. A buddy of mine had a limo company, and he kept trying to get me to work.” Finally, in 1997, Williams relented. “I drove a lady who was in remission from cancer, her two daughters, and her best friend out on the town to celebrate. It was a fascinating insight into human life. Through that little divider, you hear everything.”
Williams went on to drive every sort of passenger in the limousine lexicon, from congressmen to enraptured “85-year-olds who’ve never been in a limousine before and can’t stop playing with the LED lights” to the punch-throwing drunken newlyweds he had to break apart. “I wish I could have driven some bachelorette parties when I was 18,” he says. “It’s like driving around Sex in the City.”
This month, Williams gets to eavesdrop on another rite of passage: prom night, the limo-industry equivalent of Mother’s Day in the brunch business. So will the drivers who now work for him, along with hundreds of others across the city. He’s a partner in one limo company and the owner of another, Seattle Green Limo, with a special mission and angle: All its cars, two Mercedes sedans, two Ford Excursion SUVs, and a stretch limo, run on B99 biodiesel—99 percent recycled vegetable oil. “I could power an entire fleet off Microsoft’s French fries!” he crows.
Driving greener seems to be good marketing: “People love a little luxury, turning events into occasions—and knowing they’re doing it with vegetable oil, reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent. I’m booking cruise ships like crazy. Other customers would love to go green and use our services, but they need to know that we have enough cars.” And there’s the problem. Williams could field more bio-limos if he deigned to join the hundreds of rogue limo drivers operating with near impunity in Seattle. He wants to play by the rules, but it seems that the rules—which have proved powerless to stop unlicensed, unsafe, and uninsured chauffeurs—just won’t let him.
For two decades, until the recession slowed it down, Seattle’s limousine business grew like Topsy. What had been a rarified ride for dignitaries and the very rich became a favorite accessory for every sort of occasion. Chauffeured luxury sedans—most often black Lincoln Town Cars—came to be called limos, and became ubiquitous urban transport for corporate guests and other passengers deemed too elite for ordinary cabs.
Beyond their differences of luxury and exclusivity, taxis and limos operate under very different rules. Taxis are allowed to pick up unscheduled “stand and hail” passengers, whereas limos may only make prearranged pickups. Taxi fares are metered and closely regulated by the city and county, which charge operators stiff license fees and which field inspectors to make sure they follow the rules.
Published: June 2010
Great article. I only wish it had mentioned the amazing job our chauffeurs are doing in reducing our carbon tread. They are truly what keeps the customers coming back.
Obviously Craig Leisy, with the City, doesn’t understand that many potential chauffeurs are full-time employees or students that are looking for supplemental income. Many have had their pay cut at their regular jobs or they need to pay for their kids’ college which has skyrocketed since their original budget. They can’t afford to take 3 sick days in a row (if they get sick days) and $250 in order to take an english test and study a bunch of taxi rules that don’t apply to them and do nothing to eliminate illegal practices at the Port. They are not looking for a new job, they are working damn hard to try and make ends meet.
When I tell a grad student studying environmental practices that he’ll have to miss three days of classes and spend $300 in order to drop people off at the airport for 20 bucks a pop it just doesn’t fly.
There are ways to eliminate the illegal operators and keep the public safe. Hopefully this summer we’ll be drafting legislation with some teeth that won’t put all the small operators out of business.
Ride safely,
Kevin Williams
Founder- SeattleGreenLimo.com
I am glad Mr Williams wants to eliminate the illegal operators who don’t follow the rules or regulations. Perhaps the first step would be to start with himself.
By his own admission, his Mercedes E320 don’t qualify as executive sedans for limousine use. He expresses dismay and surprise the car was not passed when it came up for renewal. He should have been surprised when it passed the first time. It sounds to me the examiner was following the rules and regulations that Mr. Williams knew very well. Pointing out ways to get around the rules doesn’t sound like an operator trying to abide by the legal requirements. Lincoln and Cadillac are only two of many companies which make cars that meet the Limousine requirements. Lexus, Porsche, BMW, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Maserati all have models that would fit the requirements of a executive sedan. There is even an electric car, the Karma by Fisker, that meets the requirements.
I am a small (one car, Lincoln Executive L) operator. I would have welcomed Seattle being able to enforce state regulations. In my opinion, the illegal operators were the only ones to have anything to fear. Someone would finally be enforcing the rules that have been on the books for years.
The Mercedes operated by one of my companies are no longer registered as a limousine. However, there are other, completely legal, categories in which to operate them, it’s just a needless hassle. There is nothing illegal about any of my operations.
Bruce Deans, the commenter above, is a former employee of mine and has been chasing me ever since he started losing business to me. None of the models Bruce mentions in his post would meet any sort of green requirement. They’re all running on gas OR don’t meet the ridiculous minimum wheelbase. And the two industry standards, the Lincoln Town Car and Caddy Deville Bruce mentions, are both being phased out by their respective manufacturers. They’re dinosaurs and not what consumers (you) are interested in anymore. The Fisker Karma, while electric, has a very limited range (50 miles – one round trip to the airport from Kirkland) before recharging, is outrageously expensive (87 grand to start), and completely impractical for livery use. PLUS it’s a sports car. Would anyone ride in a car that I’d have to charge twice as much for? The whole point is to offer green without sacrifice.
This is the same sort of idiocy that I have been fighting for years. NOWHERE else on the planet would I have a problem registering a green Benz as a livery vehicle. Nowhere. Not in any of the 98% States that aren’t Washington either. The original definition was pushed into place by operators like Bruce who simply want to eliminate consumer choice and competition. That’s not what this great country is all about. We a country of innovation and morality and it’s time for this State to step up to its moniker the Evergreen State.
As a single car operator/driver I’m pretty sure Bruce didn’t read the part in HB1775 that would have made it a $300 civil infraction any time he took a booking outside his office. How long could Bruce stay in business if he couldn’t make any reservations once he left his home to begin his daily work? It’s because of idiotic rules like that that I fought the bill, to keep legal operators like Bruce (and scores of immigrants who couldn’t effectively communicate for themselves in the Senate committee) on the road, whether he realizes it or not.
Go Green,
Kevin Williams
Founder,
Seattle Green Limo