Selectmen deny taxi license

SAUGUS – A growing number of taxi companies in Saugus are leading selectmen to wonder if the town has a demand for so many cabs.That question led to the denial of a permit for Mets Cab, a company based in Newtonville whose owner appeared before the board Tuesday to request licensing to put two more cars on the road in Saugus in case the three others now in use broke down.Selectman Steve Castinetti remarked that there have been a lot of taxi cabs applying for service in the town over that last couple years. “I?m kind of surprised Saugus can support that many cabs,” he said.Mets Cab owner Nga Yu Suen said he wanted to operate in Saugus because the town has a high population of Chinese students who cannot afford cars but need transportation back and forth from Chinatown in Boston.Audience member Steve Goldberg, who said he owned a Boston-based company, rose during the public hearing to speak against Mets Cab. Goldberg said Mets Cab was attempting to scam the town of Saugus by obtaining a license and using it to work all along Route 1.Goldberg said he?s seen lots of cab companies do the same with the fierce competition for transportation in Boston due to companies like Lyft and Uber, where users can ask for a ride using a smartphone app.Castinetti moved to deny Suen the request, to the agreement of the board. In her reason for denying Mets Cab, Selectman Maureen Dever reminded the board that they had already had complaints over the transportation competition in town.?Adding additional cabs could hurt cab companies in Saugus who house vehicles here,” said Dever.The board had a similar issue before them in January, when Karina Flaquer of Saugus Center Taxi asked board members to vote against a license for new business Global Transportation. Flaquer said there was just not enough business for them all. The board did grant Global Transportation the license.