NOBLESVILLE — The city will have taxi service starting Monday.

The Noblesville Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday approved Red Ball Taxi, a new company, to begin operating here.

Owner Kevin F. Cavanaugh of Noblesville said the service now has one taxi, a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis, but it could add more if the need arises. He also has GPS software that can pinpoint where the cab is, and hopes to contact other taxi companies to convince them to install the same software in their cabs. That way, he said, cab companies can share information so the closest cab — regardless of which company owns it — always picks up customers.

He and his wife Christie started this business both to sell the software and to operate their own cab company. The taxi will operate throughout Hamilton County.

This is the first taxi service permitted to operate in Noblesville since the city started requiring a $1 million per incident insurance policy in March 2005.

Circle City Cab operated in the city through 2001, and tried to apply to operate here again in December 2005, but could not meet the new insurance standards.

Cavanaugh said the $1 million insurance is high based on national standards. Liability coverage alone will cost $3,600 a year, while collision and medical coverage will cost another $12,000 annually for the first cab. He said the top-five rated insurance companies that offer transportation insurance would not meet the $1 million liability, so he used the sixth-rated company, American Business Insurance Services. The cost for the liability was about $1,200 higher than the other five, he said.

City attorney Mike Howard said the city council approved the $1 million insurance requirement to protect citizens, and said Cavanaugh is welcome to appeal that decision to the council.

Mayor John Ditslear said he looks forward to having a taxi service in the city, and he's sure citizens will benefit from it.

Cavanaugh said he and his wife Christie decided to offer the service after realizing how hard it is to find a cab in Noblesville. He said it takes too long and costs too much to hire a cab from Indianapolis, and his wife once had to walk a mile home from a car-repair shop on 16th Street to their Old Town home.

Christie Cavanaugh is the company's president, and she is a special-education teacher at Indianapolis Public Schools. Kevin Cavanaugh is a licensed private investigator. For taxi services, call (317) 770-0884 starting Monday. Fares will be $3.95 plus $2 per mile.

http://www.thenoblesvilleledger.com/articles/8/085743-6728-093.html