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Morristown taxi operator asks council to raise in‑town fares after citing sharp insurance increase
Summary
A P&P Taxi owner told council his company's insurance premium rose dramatically and requested the council consider raising in‑town taxi fares; councilmembers said they will research rates and the company's claims history before any action.
At the Nov. 12 public hearing, Eddie L. Portis, who said he co-owns P&P Taxi, asked the Town Council to raise the town's in‑town taxi fare after reporting what he described as a dramatic increase in his company's insurance premium.
Portis said he had to renew insurance and found the premium jumped to "$1,500,000" from $100,000 the prior year and that, combined with higher gas prices and competition from ride‑hail services, his business cannot operate profitably at the current $8 in‑town fare. "We've been here for a long period of time ... we need to go up on our fares at least $15 for our local runs," he said.
Councilmembers acknowledged the difficulty facing brick‑and‑mortar cab operators competing with Uber and Lyft and said staff had done rate benchmarking in the past. Council asked administration to gather updated comparative rate data and to look into the taxi company's underwriting and claims history to understand the reason for the premium increase before considering a fare change.
No immediate change to taxi fares was adopted; councilmembers suggested a staff follow‑up and possible future agenda item after the administration provides more information.
