SunLine finalizes plan to expand Coachella Valley taxi services in April

Added Taxis will Support Coachella Fest, Stagecoach and other Communitywide Events

(Thousand Palms, CA)  March 25, 2014: SunLine Regulatory Administration has finalized plans to permit the Valley's three local taxicab franchises to expand their services during the very busy festival season this April.

Indio Councilmember Glenn Miller, Chairman of the SunLine Board states, "The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival attract thousands of visitors and significantly boosts our local economy. The expansion of taxi services is great for local businesses and for visitors alike. By ensuring that our local transportation services can support these world-renowned events and their continued success in the Valley, we are putting a critical piece in place for future growth. We wanted to make it easier for visitors to spend more time taking advantage of all the Valley has to offer."

Under the expansion plan, all three local taxi franchises (American Cab, Desert City Cab, and Yellow Cab of the Desert) will combine efforts to bring in an additional 100 cabs during the festival season. All local regulations will continue to be enforced: drivers must undergo background checks and drug and alcohol screening; vehicles must be inspected and insured; meter rates must remain the same. SunLine Regulatory Administration wants to encourage festival visitors to only use sanctioned, regulated taxi services wherever possible.

The plan to expand service came about after the Indio City Council encouraged SunLine Regulatory Staff and Goldenvoice to meet and discuss how to best move concert attendees around the Valley. After meeting with Goldenvoice, SunLine staff engaged all three local taxi franchises to discuss a temporary expansion of taxi services.

SunLine's General Manager, Lauren Skiver says, "I'm extremely pleased our staff was able to work with local officials, our local taxi franchises and with Goldenvoice to offer the greatest level of support for these events. It¹s a great opportunity for us to demonstrate that we have the capacity to provide reliable taxicab services to these large scale events while still making it as easy as possible for visitors to travel around the Valley."

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More information about SunLine can be found at www.sunline.org | Media inquiries: contact Jeff Ziegler at 415-623-8772 or email jeff@cranecreek.com or Stephen Crane at 951-530-1495 or email stephen@cranecreek.com.

About SunLine Transit Agency
SunLine Transit Agency is a joint powers authority formed in 1977 to operate the Coachella Valley's public transportation system.  Its vehicles travel more than 21 million passenger miles per year, covering 536 bus stops located throughout a 1,120 mile-service area.  SunLine offers fixed route bus service and curb-to-curb paratransit for the mobility impaired.

Posted 3-31-14