Taxi Canceled After 31-year Run

Santa Fe’s oldest traditional taxi cab service, Capital City Cab, is parking its fleet and calling it day. In a message on the taxi service’s dispatch line announcing the closure, a female employee alludes to the rise of ride-sharing services such as Uber as reason for the company’s failure.“After more than three decades of serving Santa Fe, we are shutting down Capital City Cab’s venerable taxi operation, effective immediately,” the recording says. “We regret that this is necessary, but it today’s much-changed marketplace, full-service taxis just aren’t a viable business model. Thank you again for letting us serve you all these years.”Reached by phone, owner Matt Knowles did not have further comment. Knowles said the airport shuttle part of the business, Sandia Shuttle Express, will stay open.The decision likely impacts more than a dozen drivers who ferried passengers around Santa Fe in the turquoise-and-white taxicabs over the past three decades.Former driver Kit Evans says the company struggled to deal with the rapid growth of ride-sharing models.“I’ll admit we live in a very ‘adapt or die’ day and age, and they just didn’t seem at all interested in adapting,” Evans says in an email to SFR. “The 5 dollar cab ride was a cool idea, but that’s about as far as they got. That being said, they are probably the first of many. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before somewhere like New York will be the only place you can still catch a cab.”

Santa Fe Reporter