Business Profile Of Unity Taxi Cab Co.

Everyone in the Evansville area knows the jingle for Unity Taxi Cab Company. “Call 421-nine-nine-nine-nine, call 421-nine-nine-nine-nine, Call Unity!” Most are familiar with their safe ride programs with the Woods & Woods Law Firm on New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day. Little do people know, however, that Unity Taxi was co-founded in 2008 by Evansville native, Bill Kramer along with the State of Indiana’s largest Medicaid transportation broker in effort to fill a void in the area’s transportation infrastructure. In 2007, the City of Evansville had a total of 14 licensed taxicabs on its streets. Today, Unity alone has around 30. In addition to service in Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Unity also operates in all of Warrick County as the only taxi licensed company.

Unlike other cab companies in the area all of Unity’s drivers go through an extensive background check and drug screening process before they ever hit the road. It is for these reasons that the Albion Fellows Center chose Unity as their exclusive transportation service. Having safe drivers allows for piece of mind for both Kramer and his customers, and greatly reduces any animosity a potential customer would have before calling in a ride. A taxi service the size of Unity might average a couple dozen traffic accidents each year, but Kramer was quick to point to ‘loss run records’ provided by his insurance company showing a total of zero at fault accidents for the entire year, by one branch of his company. Kramer says it’s not about the numbers, “Anyone can throw statistics around, but when you look at our safety record year after year, it shows results of a better trained driver. A professional driver who treats his passengers with dignity and with respect. That driver is going to make sure someone’s grandmother gets inside of her home before driving off, or will help carry her groceries to the door.

It is for these reasons that organizations with ‘sensitive’ passengers including Albion Fellows battered woman’s shelter and Anthem Medicaid choose Unity as their exclusive transportation provider. Having safe drivers allows for peace of mind for both Kramer and his clients, and greatly reduces any apprehensions a potential passenger might have when calling for a ride. Unity is the only service utilized by all Indiana branches of Medicaid, transporting hundreds of area residents who otherwise do not have means of getting to the doctor during the day or home from the hospital late at night. Every day, Unity travels to cities as far away as Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis and even Cincinnati.

In addition to hospitals and clinics, Unity has agreements to provide transportation for many of the area’s largest businesses including hotels, manufacturers, and even barge lines and a couple of railroads. In 2011, when government Medicaid cuts put a heavy strain on the industry, Unity introduced the first GPS taxi dispatch system in the City of Evansville, with greater efficiency and a substantial cost reduction for several local businesses.