There’s a new cab company in town, and owner Ray Ibrahim boasts that his cabs are decked out with the latest technology. Ibrahim, who has logged 30 years in the taxi business in Chicago, moved to Cleveland this past October to expand his Wolley Taxi Company.

“The city is growing and so we came here to help out,” says Ibrahim, who sees demand for speedy cab service in Cleveland. “On Fridays and Saturdays, people wait over an hour to get a cab. It shouldn’t be that way.”

Based downtown, Wolley Taxi has 40 cars equipped with televisions, GPS and credit card readers. “They’re brand new cabs -- nice and clean. We will take people anywhere they want. We’ve trained our drivers to be very nice.”

Ibrahim has appealed to the city this week for permission to serve Hopkins airport. He says the airport could use an additional cab company as customers often have to wait for cab service. “We need these people here to do business,” he says. “We should be waiting for them, they shouldn’t be kept waiting for us.”

Right now Wolley employs 40 drivers and eight to 10 office personnel. Ibrahim expects to create another 20 to 25 jobs, as well as add another 40 to 60 cabs, if he gets a contract to service the airport.

Ibrahim has some family here, and has been impressed with Cleveland’s growth. Best of all, he enjoys the food the area has to offer. “I like the steak a lot here,” he says. “It’s better than Chicago.”

Source: Ray Ibrahim
Writer: Karin Connelly