Federal Judge Rules Against New Orleans Taxi Drivers

Drivers are challenging new city regulations

A federal appeals court has upheld, at least preliminarily, the validity of all the laws the New Orleans City Council passed early this year setting out new rules for the city's taxicab industry. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the city can enforce all of the new rules.

A federal district judge in August had lifted a restraining order that for three weeks had blocked city officials from implementing several new regulations for the city's 1,600 taxicabs, such as setting maximum ages for vehicles used as cabs and requiring installation of credit card machines, GPS devices and security cameras.