Taxicabs to be on standby for holiday

HARLINGEN - As champagne glasses click and partygoers hoot and holler to welcome the New Year, dozens of taxicab companies will be on standby to drive revelers home safely.

Choosing a designated driver or calling for a cab is the best way to start 2009, Trooper Johnny Hernandez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said.

"It's one of the smartest moves," he said Tuesday.

Starting today, DPS will increase patrols across the state, and troopers will be primarily looking for drunken drivers, Hernandez said.

Driving while intoxicated arrests are still high, despite yearly campaigns from law enforcement.

In December 2007, DPS made 91 DWI arrests in Cameron County; in Hidalgo County, Hernandez said troopers arrested 221 people.

A DWI arrest not only has a $2,000 fine and a 180-day jail sentence, but there's a $1,000 state surcharge for three years to keep a valid driver's license, Hernandez said.

And, DWI drivers who have a passenger under the age of 15 could be charged with a state jail felony punishable by a maximum sentence of two years and a $10,000 fine, he added.

Harlingen Taxi Cab co-owner Joe Morales said his company has been in business for only three years, but doesn't anticipate a surge of passengers tonight.

"This year's been kinda slow," he said. "Christmas was kind of slow."

Morales said the taxi's meter starts at $4 and the rate is $2.75 per mile.

There are also flat rates for passengers going farther than Harlingen, he said. A 30-mile trip costs $60, while a trip to McAllen costs $75 and a ride to South Padre Island is $76.

"Basically, we're in town a lot," Morales said. "Maybe just two or three miles."

Aside from looking for drunken drivers, Hernandez cautioned motorists to observe the speed limit.

"We've got way too many people going over the speed limit," he said.

At South Padre Island, Osiel Perales, the owner of the Padre Cab Company, said passengers tell his drivers they want to be careful.

"They say, ‘Man, this is better than driving,'" he said. "It's a lot safer for a few bucks."

A trip from the Island to Harlingen is $75, but most of the company's fares are around the Island, which usually costs around $5, he said.
"It's one of our biggest days," Perales said of New Year's Eve.