City Council President Eric Garcetti, Hollywood Businesses Launch Hollywood Hail-a-Taxi Sign Program

HOLLYWOOD--Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, Hollywood businesses, and community stakeholders today launched a new 3-month sign program to promote Hollywood’s Hail-a-Taxi project. Dozens of volunteers installed more than 200 signs on poles throughout Hollywood to encourage the use of taxicabs and further promote Hail-a-Taxi, a pilot program that allows taxis to pick up passengers in restricted zones, including red-curb areas.

“Hollywood is one of the most famous places in the world, and the Hail-a-Taxi pilot program now gives visitors and residents the flexibility to hail a cab as easily as they can in other major cities around the world,” said Council President Eric Garcetti. “The Hail-a-Taxi program makes it easier for people to enjoy the world class attractions, shopping and dining in this community, and it alleviates traffic congestion.”

Prior to the Hail-a-Taxi program, city laws prohibited cabs from pulling over to load or unload passengers at locations other than a designated taxi stand. The program’s goal is to make the use of taxicabs simpler for passengers to increase safety and to serve as a complement to public transit to reduce traffic congestion. The pilot program will operate in Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles until January 31, 2010.

“Hollywood’s Hail-a-Taxi program is a huge coup for night clubbers, but also for the daytime folk who find the distance between subway stops, for example, daunting.” said Hollywood Property Owners Alliance Executive Director Kerry Morrison. “It aims to provide more transportation options for people, which ultimately makes for fewer cars on the road.”

"This is a goal that we have been pursuing for several years," said Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler. "We are pleased that Hollywood will be leading the way to show that Angelenos are ready to leave their cars and use other forms of transportation in order to ease traffic congestion on our streets".

In 2007, Council President Garcetti created a Hollywood Strategic Transportation Task Force to develop and review short- and long-term traffic improvements in Hollywood. The Hail-a-Taxi project is a collaborative effort between the task force, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and Hollywood community leaders.

The Hail-a-Taxi signs are sponsored by Council President Garcetti’s office, in partnership with the Hollywood Entertainment District, the Sunset & Vine Business Improvement District, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and the Hollywood Historic Trust.