The new year began with something Jefferson City hadn't been without for the last 40 years - a cab service. And aspirations of former taxi drivers to venture out on their own faded as quickly as some New Year's resolutions.
Checker Cab owner Tom Landwehr announced in late December the business would close, ending services at 9 a.m. Jan. 1.
Shortly after, some of the former drivers for Checker Cab bought vehicles from the company in hopes of independently providing taxi services to the community. Through posts on Facebook, they shared their contact information to get the word out.
But they quickly learned it's not as simple as owning a taxi and having a driver's license.
Vehicle for hire services are required to have two types of permits in Jefferson City - a vehicle for hire business license and individual permits for each driver, City Counselor Ryan Moehlman said.
Vehicle for hire business licenses can be acquired from the city business license office for a fee of $200 for the first vehicle and $5 for each additional vehicle.
To qualify for a vehicle for hire business license, companies have to meet a set of requirements.
The city requires taxi companies to be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week unless specific exceptions are granted by the Jefferson City Council. The company also must have, at a minimum, three four-door vehicles owned by the permit holder, and every vehicle must be identifiable as a taxi through signs on the doors on each side.
The city code also includes requirements for meters inside the vehicles and the rates they can charge.
There are requirements for each driver to obtain a permit, as well as have a commercial driver's license.
Vehicle for hire permits for drivers are $27 annually. The fee is waved during the first permit period, according to the code.
Each driver is also subject to a review by the city before they are given the permit - and annually by the company.
"They get reviewed, like a background check by the police department," Moehlman said. "They only have to do that once, then the taxi company has to notify the city if any of its drivers fall out of compliance with the permit - if they get into too many wrecks or get too many violations."
If any accidents do happen, regardless of fault, the company must notify the city within 72 hours.
If a person was found to be operating as a taxicab service without the proper permits or licenses, Moehlman said, they would be given a citation that could be prosecuted in municipal court.
After talking to the city and learning they were not allowed to provide taxi services without a business license, the former Checker Cab drivers announced, again on Facebook, they would no longer be providing the services independently.