RENO - While local casinos are reporting a major decrease in hotel room bookings, their financial troubles are trickling downward. Taxi cab drivers are the latest victims of our struggling economy, some saying that business isn't just slow, it's practically non-existent.

The taxi cab staging area near the airport on Terminal Way is overflowing these days. 24-hours-a day, drivers wait for airport customers, usually for several hours in between clients. They say the economy has hit them hard, and they're making about half as much money as they were a year ago.

The cabbie parking lot has transformed into an encampment of sorts, a place where waiting is the name of the game.

"We wait out here anywhere from an hour to two hours for a trip. It's kind of a long wait," said Yellow Cab Driver, Rick Graham.

Drivers say tourism is down, flights have been cut, and people just aren't taking cabs like they used to. They say many tourists prefer to use the free casino shuttles. Others are parking at nearby casinos and hotels, to help shorten their cab ride.

"Most of the trips we get out of the airport are across the street, down the street. You spend all day out here, maybe 12 hours, and you're lucky to make 100 bucks," said Graham.

Others say it's even worse. Drivers lease their cabs for up to $600 a week, but with business so slow, they're barely breaking even. They say dozens of drivers have already quit, no longer able to survive.

"Lots of them have already left. They went to Seattle. Some went to Atlanta," said Whittlesea Driver, Shahid Karim.

"I'm thinking of moving to New York. There is no business in Reno. No tourists. Nothing," added Yellow Cab Driver, Sonny Bal.

Drivers have resorted to playing cards or exercising, anything to help pass the time.

"All of us are suffering from the same problems. All of us," said Gurdeeb Singh, who drives for Yellow Cab.

Some drivers say it's tough, but they have no choice. With layoffs happening across the board, all they can do is wait and hope for the best.

There are bathrooms in the parking lot, but no shelter. Currently, the City of Reno is reviewing a plan to build a cover and picnic tables for the cabbies.

Otherwise, drivers say once it starts snowing, they'll be forced to say inside their cars. With gas prices way up from a year ago, they say can't afford to run the heat. Many say if things don't get better, or they'll be forced to quit.

Whittlesea Cab company managers say they've had to downsize their fleet by about 40 percent, meaning close to a hundred taxi cabs aren't being used at all.

Yellow Cab managers say they too are feeling the pinch from the economy, although they've picked up some new drivers from the downturn of the housing market. They say many out-of-work construction workers have put down their tools and resorted to driving a taxi cab.

Cab company managers say they would like to raise fares, although they think that could make the problem worse. They say higher prices might drive even more people away from using taxi cabs.