Sacramento Approves Taxi Cab Guidelines

The Sacramento City Council approved new controversial regulations for taxicab drivers Tuesday night.

Under the rules, drivers will have to: know how to speak English; have basic math skills; follow a dress code; and accept credit cards.

Councilmember Steve Hansen says the city's taxi industry is "in crisis." He says he's had problems with cab drives who only accepted cash, but didn't have correct change, or got lost.

"The quality of our taxis is a problem, and there are great taxis, there are people who do a phenomenal job, but we're always judged by the least among us." says Hansen.

Large taxi operators support the proposed rules. But smaller taxi companies say the regulations could drive them out of business, especially with increased competition from ridesharing companies.

Dafna Gautheir is with the City of Sacramento.

"One of the reasons the city is doing this is because we get complaints and when we get complaints what we do is look at what other industries are doing and see how we can mirror or be just as competitive as other industries to help our drivers," says Gautheir.

The Sacramento Taxicab Union says ride-sharing services like "Uber" and "Lyft" have taken half of the cab industry's business, and drivers can't afford to buy credit card equipment. 

The new rules will take effect in 30-days.