Daly at the same said taxi drivers operating at PIC are “registered and recognized” by the hotel management.
“This is for security reason to make sure our guests are picked up by registered taxi,” he said.
Taxi operators at PIC are asking DFS to stop picking hotel guests.
By providing a free bus service, DFS is depriving them of revenue, the drivers said.
Daly said they have no actual arrangement with buses, adding that DFS has been giving free ride to the hotel guests “ever since.”
Some bus operators are charging hotel guest but others are not, he said.
According to Daly, the hotel management accommodates buses and taxi cabs as “we want to provide the best service we can to our guests.”
The taxi, he added, is more convenient because buses have a designated schedule for picking up passenger.
50 percent discount
In related news, Rabby Syed, Saipan City Taxi Associaion president, is asking the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and Marianas Visitors Authority to help promote their 50 percent discount fare rate program.
This is only an “experimental program,” Syed said.
Taxi operators stationed at hotels believe that the scheme will result in stiffer competition among taxi drivers.
But Syed said their group is working for the betterment of all taxi operators whether or not they are members of his group.
Syed at the same time clarified that the discount applies to anyone on island even if they are not hotel guests.
Their hotline number is 287-RENT (7368).
Yesterday, the taxi association started posting notices about their 50 percent discount.
The discounted fare applies to all destinations from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Monday to Sunday.
But the minimum fare of $5 is not covered by the discount, Syed said.
He said they have also posted flyers in key locations on the island, in hotel brochures and the newspaper.
A promotion promissory note was also distributed to all interested taxi driver who would want to adopt the 50 percent discount fare.
Syed said they don’t want to interfere with other taxi drivers’ business but he is inviting them to join their group.
“This is not a discriminatory program,” he added.
