Village OKs changes to taxicab system

The village of Massapequa Park board of trustees voted yesterday to allow any cab company with a storefront in the business district to obtain licenses to operate. The unanimous vote by the four-member board and Mayor Jeffrey Pravato ends the system that had been in place under which the village awarded a monopoly to a single company under a competitively bid franchise agreement.

"It’s good for the district, the restaurants around there; people get off the train that want to go shop, people use it for the airports,” Pravato said.

An agreement with Long Island Checker Cab that expired last month has been extended during a transition period, Pravato said. The mayor added that the new local law would be in line with other municipalities on Long Island and would foster competition, but so far the village has not had inquiries from other taxi companies.

“Our community is not much of a taxi community,” Pravato said in an interview. “It’s more everybody has their own cars.”

An earlier proposal would have required cab companies to have a storefront on Front Street, but the final version adopted by the board requires a storefront on Front Street or Park Boulevard.

The board expects to set fares for taxi service within the village by the end of the year and is likely to maintain rates at $4.49 for regular passengers and $2.99 for seniors, Pravato said.