First Call Taxi & Courier Service

Two saved cab numbers beat one rideshare app at ALO

First Call Taxi & Courier Service runs on-demand at Waterloo Regional Airport (ALO), but it’s phone-dispatched, not app-based. The airport lists it as an official taxi provider alongside City Cab, and locals flying in and out of Waterloo often keep both numbers in their contacts so they can call as soon as the wheels hit the runway.

Trips are metered /service for both cost and journey time here, since routes vary across Waterloo and Cedar Falls, so you’ll need to ask dispatch for a rough estimate when you call. Because First Call also handles courier runs, some cars may be out on deliveries when you land; dispatchers sometimes quote slightly longer ETAs than a pure passenger fleet and may hedge if they’re turning a driver around from a package drop.

Service is listed as on-demand with potentially reduced hours, and the airport repeats that warning across all local cab entries on its transportation page. That’s why regulars landing on late flights save both First Call and City Cab, call both numbers at once after they step into the small ALO terminal, take the first confirmed pickup, and then cancel the second to avoid a 30–40 minute wait in an empty curb lane.

There’s no taxi stand with a guaranteed line of cars at ALO, so you handle the call yourself; the airport doesn’t publish a kiosk or desk for First Call in the terminal building. Flyers posting about Iowa’s smaller fields say they treat local cabs as a call-ahead option, especially after 20:00, and sometimes phone dispatch from the departure airport before boarding to lock in a post-landing pickup time.

Count on a few minutes to walk from the single baggage claim door to the curb, and factor that into the pickup time you request from First Call. If you land late and don’t see any Uber or Lyft cars in-app within 10 minutes, call First Call immediately and, if you have it, ring City Cab as well; having both options live at once is the best hedge against getting stuck at ALO after the last flight of the night.