Superior now has a sixth taxi service.
Megan and Vern Holsclaw opened Call Me a Cab Taxi Co. Wednesday evening.
Call Me a Cab had its first ride Wednesday night. The Holsclaw's peppered Superior and Duluth with flyers announcing the business all day. They received two calls before officially opening at 6 p.m., Megan Holsclaw said.
Since then, business has been slower.
"Hopefully once people know we're out there, it will get a little busier," she said.
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Holsclaw is a student at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College as well as an entrepreneur. Call Me a Cab is the couple's first venture into the business world.
"We were thinking of some kind of business that could help our community," she said. "We've seen what's out there, and we thought we could do better."
Starting a taxi business is a long, hard process, she said.
Holsclaw's been going non-stop, waiting 24 hours a day for paperwork and licenses to come through, she said.
They started talking about the taxi business a year ago and decided to start Call Me A Cab four months ago. The company has three 2006 Chevy Uplander vans. It offers rides and package delivery 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All the cabs are non-smoking. Call Me a Cab is licensed to provide transportation in both Duluth and Superior.
Vans were selected because they are more accessible to the elderly and children and can fit more passengers, she said. Besides having accessible vans, Holsclaw said she worked hard to find courteous drivers. The vans will always be cleaned and well maintained, she said.
Call Me a Cab plans to participate in the Superior and Douglas County Tavern League's Safe Ride program. It pays cab companies and good Samaritan drivers to take home people from member taverns who feel they are too intoxicated to drive legally. The tavern gives intoxicated people vouchers for a ride home and back for their car in the morning.
The program has been running for five years and spends $1,500 to $2,000 per month for taxi rides. It works well in the city, where many cab companies are willing to participate, but individuals at bars in rural areas must sometimes wait hours for a ride, said Dan Corbin, president of the Tavern League.
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"Taxis don't want to go there," he said.
The good Samaritan program allows people other than taxi cabs to drive an intoxicated individual home through the program. Good Samaritan drivers are given a $10 voucher if the home is within 10 miles of the member bar and up to $20 for residences farther out.
Many tavern employees don't know about the good Samaritan part of the program, so it isn't widely used. Often while waiting for a cab, people will get another ride or drive home anyway, Corbin said.
Holsclaw said Call Me a Cab will participate in the Safe Ride program both in the city and wider Douglas County area.
