Q&A | Sign of confusion in UW parking fees | Cherry-picking cabbies at ferry dock, too?

Q: Is parking for the disabled the same as preferential parking? Ed figures he's due an explanation.

A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday evening, he attended a sporting event -- the 3A high-school boys and girls basketball tournament -- at the University of Washington's Hec Edmundson Pavilion, and parked just west of the Husky football stadium in a section he thought was reserved for the disabled. Disabled parking signs were posted. He saw signs that said the parking fee was $5.

But when he approached a lot attendant in a booth to pay, Ed, himself a UW alum and avid Husky supporter who doesn't want his last name disclosed, was charged $11. The attendant, he said, was polite. But it was still $11.

"My question is why does a disabled person have to pay more than twice the amount of the general public?"

Is the university making a price distinction between the disabled and the general public?

"I am on a fixed monthly income and every dollar counts," he said. Along with an explanation, he figures he's due a $6 refund.

A: Josh Kavanagh, who is in charge of event parking at the UW, says there was $5 discounted parking in lots north of Edmundson Pavilion and $11 full-price parking in lots south of Edmundson Pavilion that evening. Both areas have both regular parking and spaces set aside for the disabled. So it seems Ed may have unknowingly parked in the higher-priced area.

"There may have been some signage that was misleading," Kavanagh conceded. "But we don't discriminate financially against disabled individuals."

Where parking is $11, both regular and disabled parking is that price. Same with the $5 lots.

Kavanagh has told Ed he'd be happy to refund his money.

More taxi tales

Cabbies at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport aren't the only ones accused of cherry-picking the long hauls over short trips that bring in less money. (A Tukwila woman is convinced that happened to her and her husband at the airport recently. See today's Bumper column online atseattletimes.com for a link to her complaint in last week's column.)

Some say it happens in the city, too.

Lois Venarchick, of Port Townsend, thinks she may have been a victim at Seattle's Colman Dock ferry terminal. "If you arrive on a ferry with a suitcase or any luggage, a cabdriver or several cab drivers will dash to you and install you in a car, believing you are heading to the airport," she said a few days ago. "If you are going on a shorter trip, say [to] Pill Hill [First Hill], you will be referred on down the line until there are no cabs left."

Venarchick said she has even been in taxis and asked to get out once the cabbie determined she was not headed to the airport. "They have been quite rude and surly about it."

So, is there any way around being passed over? Timothy Dunn, of Tukwila, says he has withheld his destination until he's seated in the cab and the doors are closed.

Cherry-picking fares is outlawed at the airport by rules set forth by the Port of Seattle, which oversees Sea-Tac and regulates airport taxi operations, and STITA, the Seattle Tacoma International Taxi Association. The practice also is outlawed in Seattle by the city's consumer-affairs unit, which regulates the taxi industry in the city, including setting meter rates and handling consumer complaints.

Cabbies found guilty of passing over fares can face fines, both at the airport and in the city.

Craig Leisy, who manages Seattle's consumer-affairs unit, said the city fields about 500 taxi complaints a year, and refusing short fares is one of the more common complaints.

Just over a year ago, the unit conducted an undercover operation at Colman Dock, with decoys posing as passengers and carrying luggage. "There were a lot of violations," said Leisy.

"No taxi is allowed to hold themselves out for a specific destination. They have to go wherever the passenger wants to go," he said, "whether it's a short trip or an airport trip."

So, what can you do if you feel victimized? If it's an airport taxi, report the incident to STITA. (That information is also in last week's column.)

If you have a complaint, or even a concern, about taxi service in the city, contact the consumer-affairs unit at 206-296-TAXI or by e-mail at seattle.consumer-affairs@seattle.gov. In either case, get the cab number.

In the past week, Ed Winant, STITA's office manager, posted a notice on a bulletin board at STITA headquarters announcing increased fines -- a minimum $300 -- and mandatory 48-hour suspensions for airport cabbies found cherry-picking fares.

"You are required to take the fare, regardless of destination," says the notice.

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