Union Cab Cooperative history

On February 14, 1980, the City permitted the cab companies to raise their rates.

In November, 1982, after having outgrown its facilities at 703 E. Washington Ave., Union Cab moved to 1321 E. Mifflin St The new location had more office space, a paved lot, and a much improved maintenance area.

On January 1, 1983, Union Cab expanded it’s operation with three airport limousines.

In July, 1984, outspoken management critic Rob Greenburg resigned his BoD seat.

In January, 1985, our airport limo operation got a boost when Bender Taxi went out of business, due to poor management and to competition from Union.

In April 1986 the BoD approved an anti-harassment policy which prohibits unwelcome advances, slurs or physical conduct toward other co-workers or customers.

In April of 1987 General Manger Krumrei decided that after seven years with Union it was time for a change and submitted his resignation to the Board of Directors.

In the fall of 1988, secure in our hold on the market, and faced with increased expenses and the need to relocate, the BoD approved a meter rate increase.

In December of 1989, concerned over changing requirements for the Metro+Plus contract with the city, the Board of Directors voted to exercise the Cooperative's option to cancel the lucrative agreement.

The net income would have been greater except for the great Persian Gulf crisis of August, 1990.

In the summer of 1991 General Manager Perry Benson was replaced by Richard “Red” Christensen, marking the first time a General Manager was hired from outside the Co-op membership.

In the fall of 1993, the Board decided to terminate the airport limousine service due to chronic revenue losses, and the shuttle vans were moved to Paratransit and lucrative student transport services.

Brian and his team created all of the dispatching, billing, scheduling and personnel software used at the cooperative since 1995 in some iteration or another.

By the fall of 1996 a new dispatch system was being integrated into our operations using Mobile Display Terminals purchased from Mentor Engineering (a Canadian electronics manufacturer) and our own proprietary dispatch software system.

The greatly improved financial position of the Cooperative was still in jeopardy, as many of the previous year’s revenue sources came from sources such as the school district, Metro+Plus, and other large contracts that would expire, or need to be rebid, in the 1999-’00 fiscal year.

In 2002, the board created a Strategic Planning Committee which instituted annual strategic planning, revamped the cooperative’s mission and wrote a vision statement.

Union Cab closed the fiscal year (July through June) in the red for the first time since 2003.

In 2007, the board commissioned Bruce Schaller of Brooklyn and the foremost authority on the taxicab industry in the United States to conduct a market survey.

Union Cab’s first Social Audit was conducted in the winter of 2008-09.

In the spring of 2010, Union Cab purchased three Priuses as part of an experiment to test the Prius's viability as a taxi.

In February 2011 the Wisconsin State Legislature introduced Act 10, legislation that would affect collective bargaining, compensation, and other benefits of public sector employees.

Business remained slow in the first half of 2012 with no surplus in site, so management started seasonal scheduling, laying off volunteers during the slow summer months.

On January 2, 2013 Union Cab won its bid with Sun Prairie and started doing business as a shared-ride service for the city.

Union Cab lost the contract and ran its last Sun Prairie shift on December 31, 2014.