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Cab company says it’s prepared for a comeback
Blue & White Taxi owns four of six cab companies listed as licensed in Minneapolis
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A Minneapolis spokesperson says 39 taxi companies were licensed in the city in 2014. This was just before Uber entered the market in 2015. Today, there are just six licensed taxi companies, and four of them are under the same ownership of Blue & White Taxi.
Waleed Sonbol has been the co-owner and CEO for the last 20 years, and his father owned the company beginning in the late 1990s. In 2007, Blue & White Taxi acquired ABC Taxi.
“Then in 2015, after Uber came to town, the gentleman at Rainbow Taxi asked me to buy him out,” Sonbol said. “Then I bought out the gentleman at Red & White Taxi.”
The St. Louis Park-based company has been around for nearly a century and serves the seven-county metro area.
“It’s dealt with regulations from the city, it’s dealt with regulations from the state, it’s dealt with regulations from the federal government,” Sonbol said. “We’ve never closed up or cried or said, ‘We have to leave if you don’t do something.’ We’ve been able to adjust and pivot.”
They could soon pivot again, as Uber and Lyft vow to leave Minneapolis on May 1 following council’s decision to require rideshare companies to raise driver pay. Sonbol says he’s getting more inquiries from drivers looking for work.
“We know a lot of drivers at Uber and Lyft, and they’ve asked us if they can come board if this happens, and we’ve said, ‘Look, let’s just wait and see what happens,'” Sonbol said.
With Council Member Andrea Jenkins saying she’d reconsider the ordinance, and a possible vote on April 11, Sonbol says he doubts the companies will leave, but says Blue & White is prepared to hire drivers if they do leave.
“Within a day, we would be able to add between 50 to 75,” he said. “It would still be their own vehicles. They’d just need to download our driver app. For us, the only difference is we’d want to put cameras in their cars.”
He says the cameras would help ensure drivers are properly serving customers, and that the footage isn’t shared.
Blue & White doesn’t own any of its cars. They’re owned by independent owner operators, and some cars have two drivers. Before COVID, Blue & White had 330 active cars at all times. Its lowest point during the pandemic was 91 vehicles. Sonbol says they now maintain a level of 250 cars.
Sonbol says another way the company has been able to pivot is by tapping into “account business” when other cab companies were big on cash business. He also attributed Blue & White’s ability to “stay in the game” to student services, and its high employee retention rate.
Blue & White’s app, called Ride Sure, works similarly to Uber and Lyft’s apps.
“Driver’s name, the plate number … you’ll see the progress of the car on your home screen,” Sonbol said.
He says the main difference is driver pay.
“Whatever rate you see you’re paying in the app to that driver, they get that rate,” he said. “We would just take a flat fee. Outside of a credit card processing fee that we charge, they get 95% of it, whereas these guys now, they’re getting around 45-55% of the fare depending on how the algorithm works for Uber or Lyft. So yeah, they would be making more money because our overhead isn’t — we don’t have expensive systems to run. We don’t have high salaries to pay for. We don’t have lawsuits all over the world we have to pay for either. So our costs aren’t the same as theirs.”
Council Member Robin Wonsley’s aide says at least three rideshare companies are pursuing licenses to try to come to Minneapolis.
As for taxi companies, a city spokesperson says there haven’t been any new requests for licenses since council overrode Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of the ordinance’s original passage. While it would take 2-6 weeks for a taxi company to obtain a license to operate in Minneapolis, individuals can get a taxi driver permit the same day if they meet requirements and are working with a taxi company licensed in Minneapolis.
The mayor’s office sent an update Monday saying Mayor Frey is meeting with key stakeholders to prepare for Uber and Lyft’s departure, and to discuss the economic impact.
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MnDOT and airport officials say travelers should plan ahead if traveling on Interstate 494 this weekend.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Whenever you see orange, you know road construction isn’t far away.
On Interstate 494 in Bloomington, orange cones are everywhere, warning drivers of what’s coming this weekend.
“My recommendation is to use our detour route and plan ahead,” MnDOT spokesperson Jesse Johnson says.
MnDOT says starting Friday night at 10, I-494 will be closed to eastbound traffic from Highway 100 to Highway 77.
MnDOT recommends taking the detour at Highway 100, going North to 62 and back down on Highway 77 before rejoining I-494 when the closure ends.
For westbound traffic, the closure on I-494 goes from 35W to Highway 100.
Once again, MnDOT recommends a detour of going up to 62 and then getting back on I-494 after the closure is over.
Michael Schommer with MSP says travelers who have flights this weekend should expect some delays.
He recommends getting to the airport early just in case.
“Generally, that means trying to arrive at the airport no less than two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight,” Schommer says.
A spokesperson with the Mall of America says despite the construction, they still expect to see a lot of visitors this weekend.
The Mall of America released this statement regarding the 494 closure this weekend:
Over the past three decades, we have experienced many road construction projects. We have found a little extra windshield time doesn’t stop our shopping and entertainment enthusiasts from coming to see us. There are multiple access points to the Mall from major roadways making it easy for everyone to get here. We have a lot of exciting events and activations throughout the season, and we look forward to welcoming our guests.
MnDOT says the closure this weekend is just one part of a multi-year effort to reduce congestion on 494.
In the short term yes, drivers will experience some slowdowns, but MnDOT is hoping to build a better commute that should benefit drivers in the long-term.
“It’s challenging in the moment, but certainly we will see those benefits when the project is done,” Johnson says.
MnDOT says an almost identical weekend road closure will happen two weeks from now.
The closure will begin at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25, and end at 5 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 28.
For more information visit 511mn.org
A local play is shedding light on the story of a family during a dark part of Minneapolis history and the good that came from a friendship.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — A local play is shedding light on the story of a family during a dark part of Minneapolis history, and the good that came from a friendship between a Black man and his Jewish friend.
It’s the final weekend for ‘Behind the Sun,” debuting professionally at the History Theatre in Saint Paul.
“The play is about my family,” said Stanley Kipper, who co-wrote the play. “We were the first black family in an all-white neighborhood.”
Kipper, a long-time Edina resident, says his family never carried hate after facing discrimination while looking for a home in South Minneapolis in 1956.
“Obie Kipper has finally found the house of his dreams, but there’s one problem: it’s 1956 and Obie’s dream for the future of his family lies outside his redlined neighborhood, in an all-white neighborhood,” the description reads.
Kipper said his father Obie had help from his Jewish friend and his wife, who posed as the Kippers since Jewish people started moving into the neighborhood.
Kipper’s long-time friend, life partner, and co-writer Laura Drake helped guide the professional musician into playwriting.
“It was important that Stan’s voice as a Black person within this play be heard,” said Drake. “It wasn’t my play as a white person, but to be able to help shape it and to give a female perspective was important.”
His director, Richard D Thompson, see’s Stan’s family’s struggles in his own.
“My hope is that they’ll see that these are just common Americans, common people in our American society, looking for that American dream that we all still seek, even to this day,” said Thompson.
If you want to see ‘Behind the Sun’ the show wraps up its run this weekend with performances at History Theatre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Taylor Schultz had earlier been declared incompetent to stand for trial in the murder.
MINNEAPOLIS — The man who allegedly killed a beloved Minneapolis grocer has been deemed fit for trial after earlier being declared incompetent for the court proceedings.
Taylor Schultz is accused of beating 66-year-old Robert Skafte before impaling him with a golf club at Loring Park’s Oak Grove Grocery, where Skafte worked as a clerk, on Dec. 6, 2023.
A Hennepin County judge initially decided to rule Schultz incompetent after officials revealed details of 44-year-old Schultz’s court-ordered psychological evaluation.
Skafte was taken to the hospital for treatment but ultimately died from his injuries. After the killing, Schultz reportedly barricaded himself inside a nearby apartment for nearly six hours before he was arrested without incident. He was later charged with second-degree murder in Skafte’s death.
Schultz’s next court hearing is scheduled for Oct 15.
