Who didn%26#39;t see this happening??? From today%26#39;s Press of Atlantic City:
New Harrah%26#39;s shuttle has jitney association fuming
By TIMOTHY PUKO Staff Writer, (609) 272-7275
Published: Tuesday, October 17, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY—The Atlantic City Jitney Association says it is being voted off Absecon Island by Harrah%26#39;s Entertainment Inc., but the gaming giant says there is not even a competition.
Harrah%26#39;s Monday morning opening of a new shuttle service among its four casinos revealed two sides of what might otherwise be a simple tale. By the afternoon, the jitney association%26#39;s spokesman issued a news release in which he compared the gaming company%26#39;s decision to that of “Survivor” game show contestants who cast off their opponents.
“The casino moguls of Harrah%26#39;s have decided … to use their alliance of four casinos to put the jitneys out of business,” spokesman Matt Stanton said.
Harrah%26#39;s, the world%26#39;s largest gaming company, owns the Harrah%26#39;s, Bally%26#39;s, Caesars and Showboat casinos in the city. Its new free shuttle runs every 20 minutes from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., but only among those casinos, which means it should not be considered as competition for the city%26#39;s jitney service, Harrah%26#39;s regional President John Payne said.
“We are not public transportation; we are not their competition,” Payne said. “We are a direct, limo transportation.”
Harrah%26#39;s officials started considering the service when Caesars and Bally%26#39;s became part of the same company last June, Payne said. He said it was the top demand of company customers and will be available to anyone carrying a Harrah%26#39;s Rewards Card.
The association, which represents the independent owners and operators of 190 city jitneys, was one of four bidders offering to run the Harrah%26#39;s shuttle. Harrah%26#39;s chose to run the operation itself, hiring operators primarily from newspaper ads and transfers from its employee bus driver staff.
Those are the only facts on which Harrah%26#39;s and the association agree.
The association%26#39;s bid was $1 million more than what the company thought it would cost to run the operation in house, according to Harrah%26#39;s officials. After accepting the bids, it delayed the start of the shuttle two weeks to give the association a chance to make a better offer, they added.
Harrah%26#39;s did not give the association a chance to make a better offer and was using unrealistic passenger numbers — about 1 million annually — in determining how much the operation would cost, Stanton said in a phone interview.
The company%26#39;s decision will hurt the small businessmen who are part of the association, but will hurt the company too, Stanton said. He said Harrah%26#39;s would have benefited from hiring jitney drivers with years of experience driving the city streets.
“Anybody can go buy a bunch of vans and move them around,” he said. “But can they do it well?”
Harrahs Shuttle ServiceThanks Frank3.Real good info.Will try the shuttle out tomorrow and Thur.
Harrahs Shuttle Servicemoneywho,
Be sure to report back on the service!
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