City Cab and Humboldt Towing shut down amid rising costs

City Cab, the Eureka-based 24/7 taxi company that has served Humboldt County for decades, will keep operating only through June 30, 2026. Humboldt Towing stopped providing towing service at 5 p.m. May 28, 2026. The near-simultaneous exits remove two familiar local transportation businesses and tighten an already thin service network for late-night riders, people without cars and anyone who needs a tow after a breakdown or crash.

Both companies pointed to the same squeeze: rising costs. City Cab said higher fuel, insurance and wage expenses had made continued operation unsustainable. Humboldt Towing cited employee wages, fuel, insurance, new regulations and the red tape tied to running a business in Eureka. Together, the shutdowns show how quickly basic transportation services can disappear when local operators can no longer absorb those costs.

Humboldt Towing told customers with vehicles in its possession to pick them up by June 20, 2026. Its website still lists Eureka at 1010 H Street and Fortuna at 755 A Main Street, a reminder of the footprint the company is leaving behind. The shutdown affects more than stranded motorists. Tow customers, storage customers, repair shops, law-enforcement agencies and people recovering from collisions all lose a local provider that could respond quickly across the county.

City Cab’s closure is just as consequential for riders who do not use ride-hailing apps or who need a traditional dispatcher they know they can call. For Humboldt County residents without a car, especially in Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna and outlying rural communities, the loss reduces one of the few private options for getting home after midnight or reaching a shift that starts before buses are running. Taxi service does not run on a fixed timetable; once it is gone, riders are left with buses, friends or no ride at all.

Cal Poly Humboldt already directs students to a broader transit network that includes Redwood Transit System, Eureka Transit System, Arcata & Mad River Transit System and the Willow Creek/Arcata route. Students have unlimited free ride access in fall and spring semesters on those services, and the university also points riders to Humboldt Transit Authority and its free mobility app for real-time departure and arrival times. That helps on price, with free campus access, but not on the immediate availability that a taxi or tow truck once provided.

Humboldt Transit Authority says it is a joint powers authority between Humboldt County and the cities of Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna, Rio Dell and Trinidad, and that it provides fixed-route and dial-a-ride service across much of the county. Those buses and dial-a-ride vans will absorb more of the demand, but they are not a like-for-like replacement for a 24/7 taxi or a local tow company.