Confessions of a Former Las Vegas Taxi Driver

Nevada’s largest cab company, Yellow-Checker-Star, in early 2014 hired me to drive a cab, and the Nevada Taxicab Authority issued me the placard to do so.

Whether or not they regret those decisions now, I do not know.

But I drove a cab for five weeks, from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m., after freelance work dried up during a slow holiday season, and before I landed my current job covering the Nevada courts. Those five weeks provided a great deal of insight into how Nevada taxi drivers, companies, and regulators operate.

Because I like the more than 42 million visitors who came to Las Vegas last year and most certainly will come again this year, and the great deal of good that does for the local and state economy, this former Las Vegas taxi driver is going to help people avoid getting ripped off.

Once you land at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, you likely will opt for one of two ways to get to your hotel: take a cab, or rent a car.

Uber, Lyft, limousines, and shuttle buses also are an option, but most people opt for a cab as the quickest and most convenient way to get to their hotels and other destinations. Unfortunately, that also is the first moment many people are fleeced upon arriving in Las Vegas.

You’ll get into the cab, tell the driver your destination, and the driver will tell you it’s faster to take the airport tunnel, which adds about seven miles and a lot of money to your cab fare.

It happened to me after arriving from a week-long press trip to Singapore in 2013, and I have lived in Las Vegas since 2008. The airport’s international terminal had just opened, and the cab driver told me it was faster to take the tunnel, due to the location of the new terminal in relation to the freeway.

That “quicker” route cost me an extra $15, and didn’t save a second. Worse, I made the mistake of tipping the crook.

Nevada law requires cab drivers to take the most direct route from where they pick you up and to your destination. That doesn’t mean the direct route always is best. In most cases, it’s far preferable to take short detours to Frank Sinatra Drive, Koval Lane, or Paradise, and avoid the multitude of traffic, pedestrians, and litany of long traffic lights when traveling to and from locations along the Las Vegas Strip, for example.

But from the airport to your hotel, it never is better, faster, cheaper, or shorter to go anywhere other than to places located directly along the 215 beltway. That pretty much means the Red Rock Resort or resorts and casinos in Henderson.

Las Vegas cabs currently charge 23 cents for every 12th of a mile traveled. Adding a nearly seven-mile loop by taking the tunnel to hotels along the Strip and Downtown means about an extra $15 to your cab fare.

The taxi companies claim they discourage their drivers from fleecing passengers, but that’s pure fiction. Most cabs in Las Vegas are owned by one of five taxi companies, and virtually all of them operate in the same manner.

To continue driving, cab drivers must come within a certain percentage of the average for all drivers working the same shift, which is usually is 12 hours long. That shift average can make it difficult for honest cab drivers to continue working long in Las Vegas.

The drivers who travel the most during the day often wind up working the busiest shifts and make the most money. That means a very large percentage of drivers are ripping off customers by taking the long way around, with the airport tunnel being the most common

That doesn’t mean your cab driver automatically is a crook. But, if the driver suggests the tunnel, and you just told him or her you are going to the Strip, you know, you have a crook at the wheel.

In such cases, you should insist on taking Swenson toward Tropicana. If your cab driver continues insisting on the tunnel, you need to report him to the Taxicab Authority. Your cab driver is required to post his placard where you can see it on the dash, and the cab has to provide the contact info in the passenger area.

Many times, I picked up passengers at a hotel and heard: “That sure was quick,” when dropping them off at the airport.

I always asked if the cab driver took the tunnel when they arrived, and they always told me that is what happened.

“You got ripped off,” I’d say, and then explain it to them so it doesn’t happen again.

Now that I have done that same good deed here, it’s time for a confession: I accepted kickbacks for dropping off passengers at Las Vegas strip clubs.

Kickbacks are not illegal. In fact, they are taxed in Nevada. The federal government merely requires the strip clubs to issue 1099 forms for the kickbacks paid to drivers and report the money to the IRS.

Cab drivers also get kickbacks for dropping off passengers at massage parlors, some of which will pay more than $100 per passenger, at a multitude of shooting ranges, and, if the driver is really lucky, for a very rare and highly lucrative run to a Pahrump brothel.

During slow periods, strip clubs generally pay $20 per passenger dropped off, and many will pay $50 or more when a big convention or other event is in town, such as the annual International CES.

The strip clubs have workers posted outside who write down cab numbers and numbers of passengers dropped off. Once the passengers pay the entry fee to get into the club, the driver collects the kickback, and in turn tips the strip club’s staff.

Kickbacks at gun ranges and other locations generally run anywhere from a gratuity, such as a free lunch or range time, up to about $15 or $20 per passenger. Many Las Vegas cab drivers subscribe to an online service that provides information on current kickback amounts at various locations.

Brothels in Pahrump are said to pay hundreds in kickbacks, and it’s a great fare. A trip to Pahrump with make the month for any Las Vegas taxi driver.

Although kickbacks are legal and even taxed, that doesn’t mean your cab driver can promote a location or service. Doing so is illegal, particularly if your driver diverts you from your stated destination.

I never diverted a ride, but I did provide encouragement when a passenger told me he wanted to go to a strip club that I knew was paying $20 per passenger. On the way, he asked about a strip club I  knew would pay me $50 to drop him off.

I honestly told him: “It’s a very popular club with a lot of hot women.”

So is the other club, and most others within a short drive of the Strip. But, I did not lie, and he chose the club that paid me a $50 kickback, minus my tip to the staff.

The ultimate thrust of this lengthy confession is to be cautious when coming to Las Vegas and taking a cab from the airport to your hotel, know your rights as a passenger, insist on the shortest route, and avoid getting fleeced before you get to your hotel.

More than 43 million travelers likely will come through McCarran International Airport this year. If they all knew what you now know, far fewer would be fleeced upon making what likely is their first financial transaction in Sin City, and far more cab drivers would be forced to be honest.

Also, it’s illegal for Las Vegas taxi drivers to pick you up anywhere other than at a cab stand. If you try waving down empty taxis, and they keep driving past you, that’s why.