Gateway Taxi Is Back on the Road With a New Number, Expansion Plans Ahead

TROY, Mo. — Gateway Taxi is back on the road with a new phone number after an unexpected disruption left customers unable to reach the Lincoln County transportation service last week.

The locally owned company, which has been serving the area for about two months, is once again accepting rides 24 hours a day at 636-212-9797.

Calls to the new number are working now. Text messaging remains temporarily unavailable while the company works to restore that option.

The disruption happened after Gateway Taxi unexpectedly lost access to its previous business phone number, forcing the company to transition to a new number. The timing wasn’t ideal for a young business already preparing for its next stage of growth, but service has resumed and expansion plans remain in place.

Those plans follow what the company describes as an overwhelming response during its first two months serving Lincoln County.

Gateway Taxi offers rides for everyday errands, medical appointments, airport trips and longer-distance travel, with Lincoln County-to-Lincoln County rides capped at $25.

Gateway Taxi currently operates one company-owned vehicle and provides service throughout Lincoln County, with transportation also available to surrounding communities and long-distance destinations.

Most shorter local rides start around $10 to $12.

For trips that begin and end within Lincoln County, customers will pay no more than $25, even when traveling from one side of the county to the other.

Gateway Taxi uses flat-rate pricing rather than a traditional taxi meter or fluctuating rideshare pricing. Customers can call ahead to get the price of their trip before booking.

The service isn’t limited to a particular type of ride, either.

Customers use Gateway Taxi for work, grocery shopping, local errands, medical appointments, airport transportation and other everyday needs. Longer-distance transportation can also be arranged.

If the destination is outside the normal service area, customers can call for a price. Gateway Taxi is willing to accommodate longer trips when scheduling allows.

But the company says one of the biggest differences between its service and a typical curb-to-curb ride isn’t the distance it will travel.

It’s what Gateway calls crossing the threshold.

For an elderly passenger, senior citizen or someone who needs a little extra assistance, the ride doesn’t necessarily end when the vehicle pulls up to the curb.

Drivers can help carry bags, assist passengers getting to and from the vehicle and make sure someone safely reaches the door rather than simply dropping them off and leaving.

The same approach can apply to someone heading home from an appointment, a passenger with groceries or a traveler who needs help getting luggage where it needs to go.

The idea is simple: transportation should get the person where they need to be, not just the vehicle.

Gateway Taxi drivers are background screened, non-smoking and insured, with rides provided in modern, company-owned vehicles.

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As the company has gotten established, Gateway Taxi has also met with local leaders and organizations, including the Lincoln County Ambulance District and Mercy, to better understand transportation gaps facing residents.

Those conversations are not formal partnerships. Instead, they have been part of an effort to identify where reliable local transportation is lacking and what Gateway can realistically do to help.

That can be particularly important for residents who need transportation to and from medical appointments but do not need an ambulance or medical transportation service.

Gateway Taxi is not an ambulance or medical transportation provider. It can, however, provide a regular ride to a doctor’s office, hospital, pharmacy or other appointment just as it would to a grocery store, workplace or airport.

The company’s biggest limitation right now is capacity.

Gateway Taxi currently has one vehicle and one driver available at a time, and there have already been periods when demand has filled the schedule.

Because of that, customers are strongly encouraged to schedule rides as far in advance as possible when they know they will need transportation.

That’s especially important for airport trips, medical appointments and rides needed at a specific time.

The company operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but advance reservations provide the best chance of securing a particular pickup time while the operation remains limited to one vehicle.

Expansion was already being planned before the phone disruption.

Gateway Taxi intends to add a second vehicle and is also exploring what could come after that, including a van and eventually a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

Those additional services are not available yet, and no timeline has been set for wheelchair-accessible transportation.

For now, the focus remains on expanding carefully while continuing to provide the type of personal service that helped drive the response during the company’s first two months.

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For existing customers, the most important change is the easiest one to remember:

Gateway Taxi’s new phone number is 636-212-9797.

Calls are working now, and the company is operating 24/7. Text messaging at the new number is temporarily unavailable while that service is being restored.

With the phone disruption behind it, Gateway Taxi is returning its attention to adding capacity and continuing to build a transportation option designed specifically around the needs of Lincoln County.

Whether it’s a short trip across town, a $25 ride across the county, groceries, an airport run, a medical appointment or a much longer destination, the goal is to provide an affordable ride without losing the personal service of a local company.

And as Gateway Taxi grows, it won’t be the last local business Lincoln CountyWatch introduces to readers.

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Lincoln CountyWatch wants to hear from businesses throughout Lincoln County — whether you’re newly opened, have been serving the community for generations, recently expanded, offer something residents may not know about or simply have an interesting story behind what you do.

Local businesses interested in being considered for a future Lincoln CountyWatch Business Highlight can email tips@lincolncountywatch.com with information about the business, its services and its story.

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Story by: John Eads

Primary Sources

• Gateway Taxi business information

• Pricing and service information provided directly by Gateway Taxi

• Information gathered by Lincoln CountyWatch.