If you’ve ever tried to get a last minute cab to the airport, or searched for a cab at 2:00 AM on the streets of our fair city after a few too many Coca-Colas with the boys, you know the feeling. Getting a cab Denver is harder than finding one in Manhattan during a rainstorm and a subway strike.

The dearth of cabs in Denver is a big problem that’s only going to get bigger – and more embarrassing – as throngs of politics-addled delegates descend on Denver for the Democratic convention. No matter how well-toned the glutes on our pedicab drivers, we doubt they’re willing to schlep the delegation from Kentucky back to the Castle Rock Econo-Lodge.

That’s why it’s great to finally see some reform. The Colorado House of Representatives has given its initial stamp of approval to House Bill 1227. On its surface, it’s a yawn-inducing utilities bill, but it contains a section that would liberalize the process for starting a cab company. Rather than placing the burden on the new cab company to prove that a new cab company is necessary, it shifts the burden of proof to those would oppose it.

A small step? Sure. And it’s not going to put more cabs on the street in time for this weekend’s green beer & barf festival known as St. Patty’s Day. But repealing the de facto government-granted oligopoly of the three Denver cab companies is a terrific start.