Drivers, ONT at odds over holding lot

ONTARIO - Cab drivers at L.A./Ontario International Airport are calling the conditions in their new holding lot inhumane and are asking Los Angeles World Airports - which operates the facility - for help.

A lack of shade in the face of triple-digit heat is one of the drivers' many concerns about the lack of amenities in the empty lot, which is located just in front of the International Terminal.

"They don't care about us," said driver Mohamed Hassen, who drives for the San Bernardino-based Bell Cab Co. "We are human beings."

Hassen is one of roughly 75 cab and shuttle drivers struggling with the move from the previous location west of Terminal 1.

ONT spokeswoman Maria Tesoro-Fermin said the proximity to the terminals is the primary reason the drivers were moved, which was at the request of their companies.

"All taxi and shuttle companies were apprised of the holding lot relocation in advance and agreed it would be beneficial due to the closer proximity to the terminals and new CNG fuel station," Tesoro-Fermin said.

A new CNG fueling station should be operational within the next month and is more accessible from the new holding lot, Tesoro-Fermin said.

The three main taxi and shuttle companies, which includes Pomona-based Yellow Cab and Super Shuttle, are discussing among themselves the possibility of placing a sun shelter system for their drivers, she said.

But Tesoro-Fermin acknowledged the conditions of the new holding lot.

"The only difference between the old and new holding lot is limited shade. There are no trees in the new holding lot," Tesoro-Fermin said.

Instead of pulling up to a holding lot that had shaded seating and trees, taxi drivers now go to an empty parking lot with a single shaded table.

It is there where several drivers - who sometimes wait five to six hours between rides - huddle under a single shaded table playing a game of chess.

Besides the table, there is a portable restroom in the middle of the parking lot and two cement benches.

Small trees line the edge of the lot.

Hassen said they are not enough to provide shade for more than a handful of cabs.

On a recent weekday afternoon, about half a dozen taxi drivers were parked throughout the lot, with their doors wide open.

Relief from the heat isn't always guaranteed, Hassen said.

"You cannot sit there in the car with the air on. That's our gas money," Hassen said. "We're being treated worse than animals."

With conditions at times "intolerable," taxi driver Alex Rubio said he is contemplating parking somewhere off the airport's property that has more shade.

Management at the taxi companies have been in contact with airport officials and have requested shelter be put in.

Officials with the car companies were told the structure has to be able to sustain more than 100 mile-per-hour winds.

The airport has given the drivers the option of providing their own umbrellas, Tesoro- Fermin said.

Preferably, Rubio said, the drivers would like to see a portable trailer put into their site.

The drivers question what LAWA does with the annual fees they have to pay to be there.