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Local Tipsy Taxi service offers new deals, options |
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
 Tipsy Taxi has recently expanded its services to also operate on Thursday nights. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
Tipsy Taxi has extended its services geared towards inebriated college students to include an additional van and transit service dubbed the Tipsy Track.
Beginning Thursday, the new service runs every Thursday night at a flat rate of $10 for women and $15 for men. A wristband buys rides to the six bars on the track and a ride home at the end of the night.
“The six bars on the track are Flipside, Parthenon, Phan’s [Japanese Express], Murphy’s, Mellow
Mushroom and Klondike,” Tipsy Taxi co-owner Joseph P. Carlin said. “We’ve always wanted Tipsy
Taxi to be not just the ride, but part of the fun. We want it to be a compass of nightlife for Boone. If
you’re not doing much else, get on Tipsy Taxi, go out and meet people, go to places you wouldn’t
typically go to.”
Carlin said each bar participating in the Tipsy Track will offer special promotions such as beer specials
and pizza discounts to those who pay for the service.
“When I called the bars and talked with the owners, I had a very positive response,” Carlin said. “It’s
increasing their business as well as ours.”
The addition of another van was a necessity, Carlin said. Friday and Saturday nights are often so busy
the drivers can’t get to everyone who calls in.
Sophomore recreation management major Jacob A. Young is a driver with Tipsy Taxi. During the
company’s regular 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday to Sunday hours, Young said the taxi moved an average
of 20 to 30 people when they had only one van. On good nights, they transported 40 to 50 people.
“It
usually blows up around 1 [a.m.], and then we’ll be completely
slammed,” Young said. “One night I drove until 4:30 [a.m.] to get to
everyone.”
The vans seat seven people, although Carlin said they had been encouraged by police to fit more
people in the back if necessary.
 Freshman construction management major and Tipsy Taxi employee Aaron M. Trovato stands against one of two company vans Monday. Tipsy Taxi has recently expanded its services to also operate on Thursday nights. Photo by Derek DeSha
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“The alternative is that they’d get in their own car,” Carlin said. “One of the drivers said he fit 19 people
in a van once.”
University Police Sgt. Scott A. Mash said the taxi meets a definite need in the college town.
“I think it’s very beneficial. Like it or not, college students are going to drink,” Mash said. “Anything we
can do to keep people from getting behind the wheel.”
Most customers are college students, although Young said a good number of adults and Appalachian
State alumni use the services as well.
Most fraternities and sororities use the beeper system, but Carlin said some national chapters frown
upon it as a form of hazing if pledges have to drive other members, which gives the taxi service further
business.
Junior psychology major Jeremy A. Bryant is a member of a fraternity and has used both the beeper
system and Tipsy Taxi.
The beeper system “doesn’t use all pledges,” he said. “They’re effectively the same thing,” although
the taxi can transport more people.
“From what I’ve seen using different cabs in different cities, Tipsy Taxi is much nicer,” Bryant said. “I
like the flat rates, and you can add a tip if you want, which I usually do. The drivers are really friendly.”
Carlin said the taxi service tries to ultimately provide a clean, safe and fun experience for its
customers.
If someone throws up in the taxi, there’s a $75 surcharge, and all drivers have been background
checked and trained to deal with situations that may arise.
“I’ve found that people like us more than [the other cab services in Boone] where the drivers are all
adults,” Carlin said. “College kids relate best to other college students…It’s a better environment.”
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