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Business & Tech

Avoiding Prom Night Transportation Nightmare

Everyone plays a part in making sure that transportation won't turn prom night into a nightmare.

Hot on the heels of the controversy surrounding U.S. Party Bus, the Public Service Commission, working with the city of Atlanta Police Department will be conducting a second round of transportation stings at prom night venues. Law enforcement officers, using the PSC’s listings of registered transportation companies, will be checking limos and buses for expired tags, licenses and registrations of vehicles, drivers and companies.

For students effected by the sting, the Georgia Limousine Association will provide backup limos; to transport prom goers stranded due to hiring an illegal bus or limo company.   

These stings were spurred by the need to crackdown on transportation companies that are operating illegally in the Atlanta area.

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“A number of agencies are working together to find this bus. It has an expired Illinois tag on it.  The Department of Public Safety will eventually get them (U.S. Party Bus). We know where they will be and it will probably be in May that we will find them,” said Tim Echols, Chairman of PSC Transportation Committee.

The PSC is the authority that registers transportation companies to enable them to conduct business legally in the state of Georgia.

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On the PSC listings, of over 600 properly registered buses and limo companies is Georgia Trolley Services.

“After prom night, then what. In the past they have shut these companies down, only to have them relocate or change their name. And then they are back on the road again,” said Jerry Moore, owner of Georgia Trolley Services for four years.

Moore provides prom night trolley services, but he said it is hit or miss, because most kids want to arrive at prom in stretch limos or party buses. But having been in the transportation business for over 16 years, he said parents have to do more than hand over their credit cards to ensure that transportation doesn’t ruin prom night.

“Parents need to be more in tune with what they are actually paying for. As far as knowing if the (transportation) company has insurance, if they are licensed to do business with the state. This has been an on-going problem for years. The first mistake parents made was dealing with a company out of state. Then there was the pricing that should have raised red flags; paying $350 to $375 an hour is totally outrageous,” said Moore.

Limos and buses aren’t the only illegal operations; Moore said he too must compete with gypsy trolley companies.   

“The state will crack down every now and then, but for the most part the state turns a blind eye to it,” said Moore.

Echols gave another incentive for parents and students to do their due diligence before prom night. He said people must use a registered company because if they don’t they have no recourse.

“There really isn’t anything the PSC can do to this Illinois company because they are not registered. So the only way to get them is with a criminal violation through the Police Department. These are opportunistic people who are bilking our consumers for thousands of dollars that must be stopped,” said Echols.

In efforts to putting a halt to these illegal transportation companies, Echols said his role as transportation chairman at the PSC is to work closely with law enforcement agencies to help them be effective in checking limos and charter buses. It is his job, he said, to make sure that law enforcement agencies know the importance of constant enforcement. And to provide them with the tools they need to do it. 

While the Georgia State Patrol and the Department of Public Safety officers can enforce transportation laws anywhere, Echols said local police departments must also do their part.

“The City of Lawrenceville police can cite for being an illegal charter or limo company. Any law enforcement agency can,” he said.   

Echols said it is not his job nor the PSC’s to do the stings and enforcement. That he said is better left up to the guys that carry the guns and wears the badges.    

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