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MARIETTA -- The city of Marietta has been without taxi cab service since Jan. 1.
It is unclear if -- or when -- Ohio Valley Cab and Delivery Service will resume operating. It is the only taxi service that has been providing service in the city the past two years.
When contacted Wednesday, owner Jan Hall confirmed that he is not running cab service in the city at this time.
"All I have to say is that I have a call in to the city to discuss the taxi transportation issue further. I have nothing else to say at this time," he said.
Marietta Public Safety and Service Director Steve Wetz said Hall had informed him he was "done" Dec. 31. Since then, Wetz said, there have been some residents who have called City Hall to ask about what they should do for taxi service.
"We told them to contact Community Action or Yellow Cab," he said. "But when we contacted the Yellow Cab office in Parkersburg, they said they were not running cabs here anymore."
The city is in discussions with GreenCab of Athens for a taxi service that will run only in evening hours within city limits, a time period when there has been no bus or taxi service available. The GreenCab agreement, however, differs greatly from regular cab operations in several aspects. At the same time the company provides actual transportation, GreenCab would be required to record and present detailed data the city requests on ridership patterns, so that the city could at a later date demonstrate need in a request for grant funds.
The city is using federal American Rescue Plan Act money to pay for GreenCab service in a six-month supplemental transportation pilot program within city limits. The city has stated it does not have money budgeted to continue the program after that time. Any extension of service past six months would have to come from outside funding sources.
In addition to transportation and ridership data, GreenCab would agree to provide consulting services to the city to help develop a realistic, long-term solution to the transportation shortage to be put into place at the end of the pilot program. It would also agree to work with the city to help identify potential funding sources to operate a permanent transportation program.
GreenCab became the company under consideration for the evening taxi service after the city published a Request for Proposal in late October 2022 and received two bids -- one from GreenCab and one from Ohio Valley Cab. Wetz said GreenCab was the only qualifying bid, the only one that met all the requirements for information listed in the RFP. Ohio Valley Cab's submission of a bid proposal for the evening service lacked much of the information required, Wetz said.
The GreenCab service has been discussed in Marietta City Council and transportation committee meetings at various times over the past two months, including presentations by GreenCab owner John Rinaldi and staff member Gary Grant. Legislation for the city to enter into the agreement with GreenCab has not yet been introduced before council, but is being prepared by Law Director Paul Bertram III and is expected relatively soon.
Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com