Anchorage will get 15 new cabs and a windfall of just over $1 million after the city sold a new batch of taxi permits on Tuesday afternoon.
The permits, which went to the individuals that submitted the highest sealed bids, were the first sold by the city since 2009, according to Procurement Manager George Wood. Before Tuesday, there were 173 existing permits.
Ten of the permits were for conventional taxis, and five were for wheelchair-accessible cabs.
There were 36 bidders vying for the conventional permits, most of which sold for between $70,000 and $80,000. Mohamed Ibrahim made the highest bid, for $91,000.
The top bids for the five wheelchair-accessible permits came in between $40,000 and $46,000.
Preliminarily, the money raised by the sale of the permits amounts to $1.07 million, said Lucinda Mahoney, the city's chief financial officer.
"We're very pleased with the results," she said.
The city will now review the credentials of the winning bidders to make sure they meet Anchorage's minimum qualifications to become a taxi driver, said Wood, the procurement manager.
By NATHANIEL HERZ