Mitchell's dwindling taxi services leads to surge in public transportation, bargoers hit with limited options

Sep. 6—MITCHELL — And then there was one.

After two local services shut down this year, it left Mitchell with just one taxi company operating during the day and late-night hours. Roughly four years ago, there were over a handful of Lyft drivers, three local taxi companies and the city's public transportation service operating in Mitchell.

As transportation options have drastically dwindled over the past few years, Palace Transit, the city of Mitchell's public transportation provider, has seen a surge in ridership.

"Ridership has really increased. We are looking to add another full-time staff member to drive," said Jessica Pickett, the city's community services director who manages Palace Transit's operations.

Palace Transit has provided nearly 15,000 more rides this year than in 2021 with four months still remaining in 2022. In 2021, the city's transportation service handled 58,173 riders. As of now, there have been 73,142 riders served this year.

The decline of available taxi services and increased ridership prompted Palace Transit to begin offering same day rides for $10 in July. And the new service has been booming, Pickett said.

From the first day the same day ride service began on July 18 to Aug 30, Palace Transit has provided a total of 126 same day rides, Pickett said. Prior to rolling out the same day ride service, Palace Transit required riders to schedule rides one day in advance.

"That big number of same day rides over that time period is just during our hours of operation, which is Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday mornings and afternoons until 4 p.m.," Pickett said, noting there are typically nine buses operating throughout the day.

Pickett pointed to the surge in riders Palace Transit is handling as an example showing there is a "major need" for additional taxi services to offer transportation in a city that has a population over 15,000. She's hoping another taxi company will pop up in the near future.

"We can only do so much with our transportation operation. What are people supposed to do if they want to catch an evening movie or shop after 6 p.m.? We can't serve them because we close at 6 p.m.," Pickett said.

Making Mitchell's transportation industry more complex is the lone local taxi company that is operating, Speedy Taxi, has been shrouded in controversy over the years for alleged bad driving habits and the owner's past legal troubles.

Dustin Feistner, the owner of Speedy Taxi, previously had his license denied by the Mitchell City Council in June 2021 in part due to his past legal troubles — which included aggravated assault and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

At an early January 2022 city council meeting, the council changed course and approved Speedy Taxi's license to operate after Feistner emphasized he's rehabilitated and underscored the need for another taxi service in Mitchell and noted that "there are many hours and days where there is no transportation at all."

With Speedy Taxi being the lone transportation company offering rides for people until 2:30 a.m. — according to its business hours online — it's left Mitchell's bargoers searching for a sober ride home with limited options.

Giovanni Lanier, a bartender at Thirsty's in Mitchell, said the lack of taxi services in the early morning hours when bars close at 2 a.m. has had a negative impact on the bar and nightclub sector.

"It would be great and rewarding to have another cab option. Not having options has affected Mitchell's nightlife and bars," Lanier said. "We need to have more and better options for taxis. That's for sure."

For a brief stint a number of years ago, Pickett said the city leaders called on Palace Transit to offer bus rides into the early morning hours to handle the bar crowds due to there being no taxis operating at that time. With only one taxi remaining, Mitchell is closer than ever to being in that same scenario.

However, Pickett said she doesn't have the staff to even take the night bus ride service on.

"We just don't have the staff to take something like that on right now," she said.

When the first app-based transportation company, Lyft, made its way to Mitchell in 2018, it quickly became a popular mode of transportation.

At that time, the Mitchell City Council was seeing new Lyft driver applications on about a bi-monthly basis.

In 2019, there were at least seven Lyft drivers operating at once. However, there appears to be no available Lyft drivers serving Mitchell, according to Lanier and several other Mitchell residents who have attempted to use the app for a ride this year.

"I haven't seen any for a while," Lanier said.

While Lyft's yearly application was renewed in 2021 that allowed drivers to operate in Mitchell throughout 2022, it's unclear if there are any Lyft drivers operating in the area.

The city adopted a new streamlined process to approve Lyft drivers in 2021 that allows the large transportation company to pay a one-time application fee each year.

Previously, each Lyft driver would be required to pay the application fee and get approved by the council to operate like private taxi companies. The new change put the approval of each Lyft driver into the company's hands, which eliminated the city's ability to keep tabs on the number of Lyft drivers operating in Mitchell.

While it's uncertain whether there are any Lyft drivers operating, the demand is there.