Ace joins taxi service fold

Clevelanders trying to hail a cab got another name to call when Ace Taxi hit the streets two weeks ago with 25 new vehicles.

Ace Taxi owner Bhupendra "Robert" Bavishi said he decided to launch the company because customers at his family-owned Traveler's Inn, a 90-room hotel in North Ridgeville, were frustrated by long waits for cabs. Mr. Bavishi said he studied such a venture for five years, but determined last September to jump into the business when a canceled Continental Airlines flight filled his hotel with guests who needed several cabs to ferry them away the next day.

"I decided then that's the best business to be in," said Bavishi, a native of Bombay, India. "The city is growing with new downtown attractions such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Science Center and Jacobs Field, so I felt there were opportunities in the business."

Ace Taxi, which started rolling April 18, currently is serving downtown, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Cuyahoga County to cover the areas with the largest demand for cabs. Mr. Bavishi said he hopes to expand to include the portion of Lorain County near his hotel.

Mr. Bavishi said he has spent $700,000 to set up the business with 25 cabs -- a combination of Chevrolet Luminas and Astro vans -- leased for two years from Royal Chevrolet in Aurora. He expects to add another 20 cabs within a few weeks.

The cabs are outfitted with meters, but Mr. Bavishi plans to add credit card capability to them within a month. Mr. Bavishi said he has ordered a satellite-based tracking system to keep tabs on cab locations and to aid dispatchers, who use a computer-assisted dispatching system. He also hired a general manager and operations manager with cab and fleet experience to launch the business. So far, Mr. Bavishi has added 35 drivers who lease their cars on a daily basis, and he has hired 15 full- and part-time employees to handle dispatching and operations. He estimates he will need a total of 75 drivers to operate two shifts daily.

"We haven't had trouble hiring drivers, but many of them wanted to see the cabs operating before they signed up," he said.

Mr. Bavishi said he selected the site of the company's leased, 4,000-square-foot office at 1200 E. 55th St. in Cleveland to be near the I-90 interchange to serve downtown and University Circle and to be close to public transportation for cabbies who don't own cars.

So far, Ace Taxi is responding to calls in an average of 18 minutes, said general manager Lou Kish. Mr. Bavishi said he hopes to bring the response time down to 10 minutes, which he considers to be a reasonable waiting period.

Mr. Bavishi's company joins the Yellow-Zone Cab Co. and Americab in providing cab service in Cleveland proper, although a host of small companies serve the suburbs. The addition of his cabs brings to 331 the number of cabs serving Cleveland, said city finance director Martin Carmody.