Audit: Vegas cabs overcharging public by $47 million a year

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If the cash you doled out for a Las Vegas cab ride hurt your wallet, it's not all in your head — auditors in Nevada also think taxi rates are outrageous.

The taxi industry, which makes big bucks taking tourists on a 5-mile trip from the airport to the Strip, fought hard against allowing the companies before losing its battle in the Legislature last spring.

Denver resident Dominick Lovely, 37, said he paid $9 for a cab ride of 5 minutes or less from the Sands convention center to the Bellagio, calling the cost a rip-off.

State agencies pay 8.5 cents to Wells Fargo per credit card transaction, auditors said, and taxicab regulatory agencies in other cities allow fees between 3.8 percent and 5 percent of the total fare.

The fee structure, which the taxi industry supports, is designed so customers pay a full 12 cents more per mile once gas hits $3.25 a gallon, instead of kicking in gradually depending on how high gas prices rise, the audit said.

A New York City driver was fined $25,000 in August for refusing to pick up a black family, and Los Angeles is considering tighter penalties on drivers after undercover black officers were routinely denied rides from the airport.