Following a career as a truck driver, Bill York is back on the road as a taxi owner.

But the road is rough these days for cabbies. York, 43, owner of Gorham Taxi & Livery Inc. said the taxi business is governed by old rates while gas is soaring.

“Gas is at an all-time high and these rates are three years old,” York said.

Gorham doesn’t regulate taxi fares. But both Westbrook and Portland mandate taxi rates of $1.90 for the first one-tenth of a mile with 25 cents for each additional one-tenth of a mile. The fees are displayed on cab doors and the state calibrates and seals the taxi meters.

“I can’t go above the rate,” said York, who was licensed last week in Westbrook.

The cities of Westbrook and Portland set the taxi rates for fares that begin and end within their borders. “We can’t survive on current rates,” York said. “It’s tough on everybody.”

York and other taxis in Westbrook and Portland can’t up their fares to cover rising gas prices. According to the Energy Information Administration, the average price for regular gas for New England on May 12 was $3.75 per gallon while the average price in 2005 was $2.27 a gallon.

To pick up business, York expanded his territory from Gorham into Westbrook. “To generate more business and establish a bigger customer base,” said York, who crossed the town line because there’s not enough calls for service in Gorham.

York will be competing with one other licensed cab company operating in Westbrook. Norma Bridges, owner of Westbrook Taxi, said Tuesday, most of its fares in Westbrook are regular customers. “There’s not much work out here for the drivers I have,” Bridges said about operating in Westbrook.

With the exception of fares to places like the the Portland International Jetport or bus stations in Portland///WHY?///, York, hoping to drum up daytime business, is offering a 20 percent discount of meter rates between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ////But York doesn’t see a taxi turf war developing between his taxi and Westbrook Taxi///WHO SAID THERE WAS ONE?////. He said the two companies have referrred business to one another during busy times.

Because of tougher competition from other cabs, York isn’t renewing his Portland taxi license, which expires this week. But Westbrook Taxi is renewing three cabs in Portland, according to Tynnia Staples, security coordinator and taxi administrator in Portland.

A delegated spokesman for Bridges////WEIRD////, who was busy dispatching cabs Monday, said drivers lease cabs and pay for their own gas. “These guys are getting killed,” Bridges’ spokesman said.

Taxis are hoping for municipal help. Staples, who has been laid off effective the end of the week, said Portland’s Transportation Committee is weighing ordinance and rate increase changes but taxi companies aren’t in agreement on what to increase. Portland could implement a new fee to cover wait time, if a cab with a customer, for instance, was stuck in a traffic jam////WHAT ARE THE OTHER OPTIONS?////.

In Westbrook, City Clerk Lynda Adams said the city’s ordinance, which she said is vague, would be reviewed by the City Council’s Committee of the Whole in July. Adams said the present ordinance hasn’t been updated since 1946. The ordinance is so antiquated that it requires cabbies to wear badges on their hats.

Adams said unlicensed taxis aren’t supposed to pickup fares in Westbrook. But, Adams suspects the Westbrook ordinance has been violated///MEANING WHAT?///. “We need to get some teeth in the ordinance so we can buckle down on it,” Adams said.

Westbrook Police Chief Bill Baker during his tenure knew of one taxi without a license picking up fares in Westbrook. “Certainly, there’s not a chronic problem,” Baker said Monday.

Adams said a future change would require all taxis operating in Westbrook to have a license. She said the annual license for a taxi business license in Westbrook is $100 with a $40 fee for a new taxi driver. A driver renewal fee is $25.

York said a city of Portland license costs him $440 a year. It allowed him to wait for fares anywhere in the city except at the Jetport where there’s another $600 yearly fee to wait for fares.

Gorham Town Councilor Mike Phinney, chairman of the Ordinance Committee, said this week he’s never heard of a taxi ordinance in Gorham///DOES THAT MEAN THERE ISN’T ONE?////. “Nothing is planned,” Phinney said.

Gorham has no records of taxis that have served its residents. York launched Gorham Taxi & Livery, Inc., in July to fill a void he saw in public transportation in town.

After years as a truck driver, York, who was sometimes on the road for three months at a time, shiftied to driving a taxi. He said life on the road as a truck driver took its toll.

“I hauled chemicals and hazardous waste,” York said.

“It made me old in a hurry.”

York, a 1983 graduate of Gorham High School, has a sedan cab and sometimes uses his personal, four-wheel drive Chevrolet Tahoe. He is based from his home on Libby Avenue and he’s on duty 24 hours a day. “If the phone rings at 3 or 4 a.m., I go,” said York, who hopes to increase daytime fares.

His business venture suffered an early setback. He said a drunk driver in a stolen car on Nov. 30 hit him head on in front of Cinemagic in Westbrook. The crash destroyed his cab, but he was thankful he didn’t have a fare aboard.

York’s head hit the doorpost///DOORPOST?////. He was knocked unconscious and hospitalized. “I had bruises, aches and pains,” said York, who didn’t suffer any broken bones.

Not waiting for insurance to replace the cab, York three days later shelled out $10,000 to outfit a 2004 Crown Victoria as a taxi but the process was time consuming to get back on the road. “I was without a sedan for a month,” York said. “Not much profit this year.”

Regular customers include Gorham residents without drivers’ licenses who need rides to work, elderly, university faculty or students, and tourists.

York, a Gorham native whose father once owned Neal and York Funeral Home in Gorham, likes meeting the people and hearing their stories and about their families or their jobs. One of his regular customers moves yachts for Hollywood stars, business executives and political figures.

Some fares haven’t been so interesting. Customers have slammed doors, kicked the cab, jumped out without paying and spit on him. “A taxi driver takes a lot of abuse,” York said.

Despite the abuse, spiraling gas prices and outdated rates, York seems happy driving his cab.

Last year, York got married in the Philippines and he’s trying to get his wife permission to come to the United States. She was working up to 14 hours a day for $2 in a factory with no air conditioning when he met her.

York said he saw people in the Philippines with nothing, yet they had a smile.

Gorham Taxi can be reached at 839-8333; Westbrook Taxi at 854-9858.

(Taxi 3) – Bill York said taxi rates are three years old while gas prices are rising. (Taxi 6)