Fort Myers taxi company owner earns acclaim from industry peers worldwide

A Fort Myers-based taxicab operator who's built her company from a fleet of seven taxis in 1993 to more than 200 vehicles has earned top honors from her industry.

Judy Griffin, president of Southwest Florida Transportation Group Inc., will accept the Taxicab Operator of the Year award Monday at the annual convention for the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association in Denver.

 The non-profit trade association has members worldwide and includes 1,000 taxicab companies, executive sedan and limousine services, airport shuttle fleets, non-emergency medical transportation companies, paratransit services, and other industry vendors.

“I was floored,” Griffin said, recalling how she first learned of the recognition.

Griffin’s active in the association, with nine years’ service on the board of directors.

She’s also connected to her community through memberships in area chambers of commerce, the Businesspeople United for Political Action Committee, several business clubs for women and through faith-based philanthropy.

Over the years, she’s steered her company through big industry-wide changes, including the adoption of mobile apps, websites, GPS-based dispatching – and competition from such transportation network companies as Uber and Lyft.

Her company is the parent for local operations of Bluebird Taxi, Yellow Cab, Checker Transportation, Naples Taxi Service, a car rental business and several other spinoffs.

The quickest way to reach a cab company in Southwest Florida, she said, is to "download our free 275-TAXI app."

Griffin's business also is one of three local companies that formed the MBA Airport Transportation partnership that, along with Majestic Transportation and Apple Transportation, provides on-demand service at Southwest Florida International Airport.

MBA has done “an admirable job. Their operations at the airport have grown over the years,” said Al Gulamali, director of operations and safety for Lee County Port Authority.

Griffin’s “willing to listen; she’s collaborative in spirit,” Gulamali added.

Uber and Lyft gained official status at RSW and at Page Field in July. It’s “too soon to tell” what impact the transportation network companies will have on demand for taxis, he said.

Ridesharing service comes to Southwest Florida International Airport

Griffin, who’s 67, doesn’t mince words when asked about her stand on the latter development.

“I am very profoundly against Uber and Lyft. They don’t play by the rules, although they say they do.”

When the new technology transportation companies first arrived in Southwest Florida, she admits to feeling dread: “I thought we were trashed.”

Some six years later, she said, “they’re really not hurting us that much.”

Bracing for hard times, Griffin outsourced dispatch operations, except for those involving Southwest Florida International Airport.

She decided to eliminate a second business location off Alico Road in south Fort Myers, selling that property at a profit,

Now the sole headquarters is on Palm Avenue in Fort Myers, where Griffin and husband Phil, first got started, by purchasing the Bluebird operation.

Phil retired for medical reasons, and now cheers her on from the sidelines.

Over time, Griffin diversified her company's services to include moving blood and medical equipment between hospitals, providing van-based paratransit services for patients on stretchers and for people who use wheelchairs, and  taking older people who no longer drive on their appointments and errands.

The adult children of the latter customers appreciate having a company that will bill them by the month, Griffin said.

The transportation company’s corps of drivers is composed of some people who own their own cabs. Most, though, lease vehicles from Griffin, but are considered independent contractors.

During the peak months of winter and early spring, Griffin oversees a work force of about 26 employees and more than 250 independent contractors.

Muhammed El Mahadi is one of the latter, and has been with the company since 2005.

“I like working with her,” he said, noting that Griffin is flexible when he wants to take time off to visit family in his native Sudan.

Griffin considers drivers part of her extended family, attending their children’s weddings, birthday parties and graduations.

She throws barbecues for drivers and employees, and awards a monthly bonus to the driver with the most repeat business.

“Everybody finds a niche,” Griffin said.  “They get their own clientele.”