Veterans' Taxi winning its battle to expand in Allegheny County
A new taxicab service in Allegheny County is banking on patriotism as it tries to gain a foothold in the market for car service.
Veterans' Taxi, granted a license July 2 by the state Public Utility Commission to operate Downtown and at Pittsburgh International Airport, runs 25 cars driven mostly by military veterans.
“It's been very good,” said Robert DeLucia, CEO of Star Transportation Group, which owns Veterans' Taxi and four other transportation services. “We're getting calls on a daily basis.”
DeLucia, a military veteran, started Veterans' Taxi in 2010 in Butler County and northern Allegheny County but needed PUC approval to expand to the City of Pittsburgh and the airport — two important markets for taxis.
The city's dominant taxi service, Pittsburgh Transportation Group's Yellow Cab, with more than 325 cars, opposed Veterans' request for a license, DeLucia said.
“For the first time in Pittsburgh there's competition for taxi service,” he said.
Star Transportation has offices in Moon and the South Side and operates Classy Cab, Cranberry Taxi, Star Limousine and Air Star Transportation. An unrelated transportation company based in Latrobe uses the name Veteran's Cab Co.
In addition to hiring military veterans as drivers, Veterans' Taxi is moving toward a fleet of American-made, compressed natural gas-powered vehicles that are wheelchair accessible.
It has 11 vehicles called MV-1 that are about the size of a minivan and sold by a privately held Florida company, Vehicle Production Group. The MV-1 is designed for wheelchair accessibility and manufactured under contract in Indiana by A.M. General LLC, known for making the military's Humvee.
In addition to the MV-1s in its fleet, Veterans' Taxi has eight on order and plans to have 25 by next year, DeLucia said.
The company fills up the gas-powered vehicles at a natural gas station in the Strip District owned by EQT Corp.
Compressed natural gas, or CNG, is much less expensive than gasoline, which makes a big difference to Veterans' Taxi's drivers, who are independent contractors and pay for fuel.
Frank Guzman, a Star Transportation driver since 2010 and Pittsburgh-area cab driver since 2005, said cheaper fuel means more money in his pocket.
“Today, the independent contractor is burdened by the price of gas,” said Guzman, 62, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. “Many of the taxi vehicles are eight-cylinder, bigger-size cars, and they're not very easy on gas.”
The MV-1 requires a “substantial upfront investment” of $50,000, said Derek DeLucia, Robert's son and president of Star Transportation Group. But the extra cost is worth it to bring a different experience to the market, he said.
No other taxi service offers cabs that run on CNG or are wheelchair accessible, he said. A button on the inside of the vehicle's rear door releases a ramp to provide access to a flat-bottomed space where the front passenger seat normally would be. There's a rear bench seat for other passengers.
About 20 percent of Veterans' Taxi customers use wheelchairs, Derek DeLucia said.
“In order to change the game you have to change the way it's played,” he said.
Alex Nixon is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb.com.
