After six years of applying, being denied and applying again, the Alliance Taxi Co-op has been approved by the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) for a dispatch license. The license will allow the co-op to finally send its drivers, who are also its owners, out onto the streets.
This is the first time a co-op has been approved, and the nearly six-year process has tested the latent organization’s endurance and the PPA’s to ability and willingness to work with new types or organizations.
The Alliance Taxi Co-op first applied for the dispatch license in 2009 and was denied because the PPA was not accepting any new licenses at the time, according to Ronald Blount, founder of the co-op. Blount is also a founding member of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, a membership-based organization that advocates on behalf of taxi drivers. With Blount at the helm, the group has staged protests, organized strikes and spearheaded labor negotiations.
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