Taylor Leas, left, a Kansas University junior from Wichita, and Liana Davie, a KU junior from Puerto Rico, dance Monday night at Abe & Jake's Landing to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Christmas lights flicker along the ceiling inside Shawn Hoefler’s van. Strands of Mardi Gras beads dangle from his neck and another bunch hangs from the rear-view mirror.

It’s New Year’s Eve and the 31-year-old is working the night shift.

“I’ve been jamming all night,” he says, pulling his Jayhawk Taxi away from the curb.

Jaunts downtown. Drunken debauchery. Late-night trips through drive-throughs. Hoefler will take it all in from the driver’s seat.

For many, New Year’s Eve is synonymous with resolutions, countdowns and bubbly. To taxi drivers and others who service the revelers, it’s a time to count the cash as it comes in.

“This is the busiest day of the year for liquor sales,” Jeff Jensen of Jensen Retail Liquor said Monday afternoon as a stream of customers came through his Ninth Street store. “This is going to be another great year.”

Across Lawrence, many engaged in some form of celebration Monday evening. Partiers flooded restaurants, bars and clubs. Many picked up supplies at liquor and grocery stores. For kids, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department hosted an overnight at Holcolm Park Recreation Center.

Taxi drivers who worked the night away said they, too, were celebrating – vicariously.

“It’s kind of fun,” said Terrell Session, a taxi driver and co-owner of Zippy Taxi and Delivery. “You’re around people that are having fun. They kind of bring it out of you.”

Lawrence’s taxi services had their full forces out Monday.

That included 38-year-old Greg Perry, a driver for Ground Transportation Inc. As the night began, Perry settled behind the wheel of his passenger van and steered it away from the snowy drive of the company’s headquarters.

Perry once worked as a baker. He has been a taxi driver on and off for seven years. Monday was usually his night off, but the prospect of a busy night overshadowed the loss of some downtime.

“It’s really busy,” he said of New Year’s Eve business. “If you’re a taxi driver, your adrenaline starts going. … You’re getting lots of runs in and making money.”

As he viewed it, he was doing a good deed.

“I’m dodging drunk people all the time,” he said. “I wish more people took a taxi.”

Taxi drivers get a unique view on the party – a circus that only gets more interesting as the night wears on.

“The customer base is a little bit different than the average weekend,” said Danielle Session, co-owner of Zippy Taxi and Delivery. “Tonight we will have all age ranges … almost all of them will be intoxicated.”

On the roads, drivers navigate roads that inebriated people roam.

“I’ve come down Tennessee Street and seen people laying in the middle of that busy road – a lot of dangers like that,” Terrell Session said.

And there can be just as much chaos inside the car.

Some drunken riders leave vomit in their wake. Call it an occupational hazard.

Terrell Session said he’s learned to look for the cues: the burping or the silence of someone struggling with stomach pains. He’s prepared to pull over, if necessary.

“Barf outside of the car is better than inside of the car, I’ve learned,” he said, laughing.