Map of Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Nevada Taxicab Authority took a rather-safe-than-sorry approach in approving up to 112 additional cabs on the streets for this weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival music festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Acknowledging that it has no history to view and only speculation on what to expect, the five-member board on Tuesday unanimously approved a request from the Frias transportation group for seven additional cabs for each of the 16 companies in Clark County to serve the three-day event.
Cab companies will be allowed to run extra cabs from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Monday, and Administrator Charles Harvey has been given the authority to reduce the number of cabs if demand fails to materialize.
The Electric Daisy Carnival is an electronic music rave geared to college-aged students that will run from 8 p.m. to sunrise Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is being held in Las Vegas for the first time, but has been presented in other cities in past years.
Organizers Insomniac LLC say 80,000 people are expected to attend the event each night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The speedway is no stranger to accommodating large crowds, but there are several elements of the Electric Daisy Carnival that made authority members question whether additional cabs would be needed.
Insomniac has contracted for shuttle buses to transport event attendees from the Strip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the speedway will have thousands of free parking spaces for people attending the event.
Industry representatives said the event’s fans have money — tickets to the carnival run about $100 a night and $200 for VIP packages or three-night passes. They expect several attendees to share cab fares for transportation to the speedway.
Cab company representatives also said they don’t want to under-serve Strip customers riding in cabs to restaurants and shows during the carnival. While the carnival will run several hours at night, officials think attendees will come and go at various times to follow specific musicians and DJs performing.
“Many fans follow these people all over the world,” said George Balaban of Desert Cab Co. “This is the same crowd that spends $4,000 for bottle service at nightclubs. We definitely don’t want these people to be driving cars.”
Balaban also noted that because a trip from the Strip to the speedway and back would take about an hour, it could take a cab out of circulation that normally would be used by Strip patrons.
In the end, the board agreed to err on the side of caution for this year’s event to ensure that poorly planned transportation isn’t a reason that the event doesn’t return to the city in the future.
Harvey said he plans to have Taxicab Authority staff monitoring transportation to and from the carnival and will review industry statistics after it’s over to determine how to handle the event in the future.
Rival cab companies unanimously backed the Frias request while a union representing cab drivers opposed it.
“Most of what has been brought to you is total speculation,” said Richard Segerblom, a lawyer representing the Industrial Technical Professional Employees Union.
The authority board also was concerned about whether cab drivers will avoid customers going to the speedway and concentrate instead on higher-tipping customers on the Strip because they can get two or three fares for every one going to the speedway.
Although reluctant, the board voted to approve the extra cabs.
“It’s a case where we’d rather be safe than sorry,” board member Dennis Nolan said.