Posted: 5/11/2007 8:17:01 AM EDT
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New rules penalizing cabdrivers who refuse to pick up passengers go into effect today at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Refusing a fare will now get a cabbie's airport license revoked for 30 days -- with a second refusal bringing a two-year revocation. The Metropolitan Airports Commission approved the tougher rules after complaints about Muslim cabdrivers refusing to give rides to people carrying alcohol. More than 70 percent of the cabbies at the airport are Somalis, who are commonly Muslim. Many of them claim that Islamic law prohibits them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol. Under the airport's old rules, a driver who refused to give a passenger a ride was told to go to the back of the taxicab line. |
