LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The City of Los Angeles is cracking down on unlicensed “bandit” taxi drivers.
Nearly 650 unlicensed drivers have been arrested so far this year, nearly twice the number in all of 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
The arrests are part of a collaboration between the city Department of Transportation and the Los Angeles Police Department called the Bandit Taxi Enforcement Program, city officials said Wednesday.
The program is financed by charges imposed on licensed drivers.
It is illegal to operate a taxi in the city without a license, but unlicensed cabs are common. City officials estimate there are about 2,000 bandit cabs in Los Angeles, compared with about 2,300 licensed taxis.
Such illegal cabs can be dangerous because drivers are not licensed to drive or have criminal records, the Times said. Customers of the cabs have sometimes been charged exorbitant rates, assaulted and robbed. Bandit taxis also take business away from legitimate drivers who must adhere to rules and pay fees.
But some city residents say the drivers are not criminals, but workers who do not have access to other employment and are subject to the control of bandit taxi ringleaders.
