Hey, there! Log in / Register
Another reason she hates Boston
By adamg on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 11:37pm
ChezNiki explains how she just hates how there's no way to get from Logan to anywhere else by public transit in the wee hours, like, say, when her plane gets in. She posts a copy of a text message she sent a friend about her ride home to the West End recently:
... Just gettg home now. F*ckg cabby drove through lynn, revere, medford + everett before I threatend him with callg the police + taxi comm. THEN he took me back (home) to Boston! 10 min ride took 25 mins! Hate f*ckg Boston! Im back for 10 mins and the bullsh*t already startd! ...
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
luckily I never had a cabbie
luckily I never had a cabbie go for a joy ride taking me from Logan to Brookline. I just hated the fact it cost over $30 for the ride! (w/ tip)
Just like everything else,
Just like everything else, Boston gets all the small things horribly wrong yet has the brass to call itself a world class city.
I'm still at a loss why they discontinued the highly successful night owl, or don't run T's to at least 2-2:30. Has anyone ever tried catching a cab downtown? Your lucky if you get one at 1 in the afternoon in a business suit, let alone at night, they just don't stop for what they know will be short rides.
Boston should also do what I heard NYC does, $15 flat rate trip to anywhere in the city limits if you're coming from Logan, normal charges apply after you cross out of the city. It's really irking me that it costs $10 now just to get a cabbie rolling, and they have the audacity to say they should be raising rates and blaming the city on fee's. Maybe they should get their service in order first.
Some cabbies should be locked up
A friend had a cabbie like that -- the cabbie going from the airport refused to get on 93 North to Medford, drove him out the Mass Pike to 128, north on 128, and back in on Rte 2. He was on the phone to me, begging me to come rescue him. He felt like he'd been kidnapped -- completely traumatized. And then the cabbie charged him $80 for the joyride!
I tried complaining to the taxi commission and to Logan Airport, since I had the cab's license plate, and they refused to do anything about it unless my friend filed a formal complaint and jumped through a bunch of hoops. Which he didn't want to do -- he just wanted to get the hell out of Massachusetts and forget the whole thing.
There are plenty of decent cab drivers around here, but I've had nothing but horror stories from the cabs out of Logan. What a way to welcome visitors to our city.
I hope to god he didn't pay
I hope to god he didn't pay that fair.
Let the cabbie call the police, which he probably won't. When they find out you came from Logan, the cops will tell him to get lost.
I just wish cops would do more and arrest these a-holes so they stop doing it.
oh, and also. Most cabbies
oh, and also.
Most cabbies I've dealt with in this city either strait out don't know their way around the city, or are blissfully ignorant trying to get a higher fare by taking long routes.
It's down right negligible, and in my opinion it should be considered stealing or defrauding. There's a reason the union or group or whatever it is is fighting the cities proposed customer bill or rights. It's because we have none, and they like it that way.
Very true, SweetTooth.
I, too have dealt with my share of cabs in and around Boston and, little by little, have come to the conclusion that, while many of them act like they don't know where they're going, or don't know the English language, that this is a racket. They're just out to get a higher fare.
Yet, I've also come upon some cabbies who're not like that at all, and, in fact, have been quite helpful and nice.
I have never taken a cab in
I have never taken a cab in Boston and not been swindled. I don't ever take them here. In NYC I have had great drivers who go out of their way to do the right thing. What is wrong with boston's taxis?
Boston cabs
I've taken cabs from Logan and while I don't like the $30+ fare to Roslindale, have never had a problem with a driver taking me the wrong way. But maybe that's the benefit of living in a part of town nobody knows - you have to tell the driver from the start how to get there.
Off the top of my head it's
Off the top of my head it's lack of competition, but I see them everywhere, so how could that be?
I'll go with my liberal leanings and just say lack of oversight.
maybe if they're threatened with that they'll collectively clean up their act.
Agreed I don't want to
Agreed
I don't want to generalize, because there are a few great cabbies out there.
Problem is, they are few and far between.
In London, they require a knowledge test of the city streets and routes before they issue a medallion to a cab operator. basically, the test instructor asks for the quickest route between two randomly chosen streets and they need to know what area of the city it's in and how to get to the destination quickest.
Why doesn't Boston? Why can't a cabbie get me from oak square to Andrew square on the fastest and most direct way?
(hint: they usually try to stay of 90, using city streets and running the fair up to $50)
I learned long ago that you
I learned long ago that you have to give turn by turn directions to cabs in Boston. If you know where you are going they won't take advantage of you. I just feel bad for the people who don't know their way around the city.
I also think your fair from the airport to downtown should start/end when you enter the tunnel, either that or use flat rates for Boston and surrounding communities for the airport.
Also getting a cab at 2 AM is a nightmare. I needed to go just a couple miles down the road in the freezing weather and every cabbie stopped and asked where I was going when I told them they drove off. I was shocked. Now when they ask I just lie, get in, and then tell them I had a change of plans and go where I want.
What a pain in the neck!
Sounds as if this cabbie was really taking you for a ride! (no pun intended)(
It very very common
It very very common downtown.
Ive stood at the off ramp of 93 in the rose kennedy greenway, basically where empty cabs stream out to the city streets, and waited for 50 minutes untill I was fed up, jumped infront of a cab, and made him stop for me.
It's illegal for cabbies to refuse fairs, or to refuse to stop if they are empty. They do it more often then they don't.
Other cities manage to get it right
I may be the only one who remembers Share A Cab. Once upon a time, there was a wonderful service called Share A Cab originating at Logan. You guessed it: people going in the same general direction were directed to a cab and the price was shared in order of dropoff. So easy, so economical. So of course they discontinued it.
In other cities, the cabbies are fully familiar with the city and know where they're going. In other cities they are polite, the cabs are clean, and the prices are fair and the cabbies, for the most part, speak English. For a relatively small city, Boston cabs are enormously expensive (and, by the way, Cambridge cabs are even more expensive than Boston cabs.)
The passenger should not have to give the driver directions. What if I'm tired, or upset about some emergency, or I just want to relax? I shouldn't have to be on the alert the whole time watching the route he's taking. And never mind the poor tourists who get scammed this way. Nice introduction to our city!
When traveling to other cities I found that cabs elsewhere have wonderful little credit card machines in the back, so if you normally don't carry cash (like me) you can still grab a cab, pay with a credit card and add the tip to the credit card, too. It's such a great thing. In a strange city you don't often know how much the cab ride might cost, so you have to guess how much cash to get (and I usually err on the side of too much). Why can't we join the 21st century and put credit card readers in our cabs? Doesn't seem like rocket science.
I also have a real problem with the way the cabbies drive. There's no reason for them to make a cab ride a dangerous endeavor. The city and the police should be forcing them to obey traffic laws.
In New York, after the city clamped down on cleanliness (both cabs and drivers), courtesy, etc the cabs became quite nice and the drivers are usually helpful.
Boston could learn a lot from other cities.
if i recall correctly, there
if i recall correctly, there are flat rates from Logan to area towns. it used to be listed online somewhere. but i don't understand why would not have a problem with a cab taking you the wrong way. do they not have maps? and that's taking it old school. no gps devices or gps-enabled cell phones.
there are flat rates to towns further out
posted near the taxi stands at terminals. However towns right outside Boston such as Waltham, Watertown, and Arlington all have metered rates. Which adds up quickly, especially if the cabs take a long route.
I learned to give specific directions to my destination as soon as I get in a cab.
Limo Service
When I lived in Littleton, we used "Littleton Limo". They would come get us or take us at any time of the day or night. We also learned some pretty neat shortcuts around traffic that are not signed (like the ridiculously unsigned and unimproved way to get from 1A to Rt. 16!).
Once we moved to Arlington and then to Medford, we still tend to use these services. Our whole neighborhood swears by "Chucky", the Mickey Rooney look-a-like who is always on time, day or night, with great service and at any hour.
I've never had a single
I've never had a single problem.... I live in the North End and take cabs from Logan all the time. I always try to sound as firm and knowledgeable as possible about where I'm going so as to never be mistaken for a visitor or tourist. I never really tell them the route, but at logan I will specify "old tunnel", and once or twice I've had to repeat that as the cabbie start edging toward the new tunnel
Same for me
When I lived in East Boston, I took cabs to and from the airport routinely. I will grant that a few cabbies would have the nerve to ask how to go, but as soon as I demonstrated that I knew what I was talking about, they were always great. I always tell friends/tourists exactly what roads they should tell a cabbie to take, so that they sound like they know what they're doing. It's a stupid game, but I've had the EXACT same issue in NYC, Chicago, and London, for that matter.
Must be nice...
Maybe it's because I'm a freak magnet, or maybe it's because I don't sound like I'm from Boston (and hence may be mistaken for a tourist), but I've had way too many issues with Logan taxi drivers since I moved here in '99. I have too often gotten the 'so, I'm not sure how to get to Malden/Melrose/Wherever...which way do you want to go?' schtick, after which they wander all over kingdom come getting me home. And then there's the 'I'm going to pretend I don't hear you and/or that I don't speak English and can't understand you, at least until you call my bluff' schtick.
As I noted on ChezNiki's site, I now just tell the cab drivers up front that they can take me whatever route is within a dollar or two of the average rate ($36) between Logan and my apartment, because I'm not paying a penny over that, other than my usual gratuity (and I'm pretty generous w/ gratuity). I've gotten some major stinkeye for that, but most of them have scrupulously gotten me from point A to point B just slightly UNDER the average rate since then.
I mainly take Amtrak now, though, whenever possible, instead of flying, so I get to avoid the drama of Logan cabbies these days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jen Stewart
Grumpy Cabbies
The last thing a cabbie wants to see after having sat in the taxi pool for 90 minutes is me...and my little drive into Southie.
While I feel a touch guilty (just a touch), I give a good tip IF and ONLY IF the driver doesn't bitch.
I have had two or three situations with a driver who was visibly and audibly angry (once in some exotic language that wasn't Haitian-Creole) with me because of his dumb luck.
But after a long flight home (and, basically ANY experience in Airworld), the last thing I like upon my return is a bitchy cab driver welcoming me home.
!!!!! So don't sit in a lame
!!!!!
So don't sit in a lame car pool where you run that risk, and go pick up fairs around the city...
I agree, cabs also need to join the 21'st century and take card.
Now that I'm thinking of it, I think I read somewhere that cabbies in Boston are technically "rent a cabbie".
Someone owns the company, and the drivers rent out the car and medallion for a time, and get a cut of the fairs. In other words, they aren't employed per say by the cab company, which is the norm in most other cities (I think, correct me if i'm wrong). My guess is that's the root of all your problems right there. It isn't a steady job for most, but a temp job or 2nd job to make a buck.
In NYC they have a solution
In NYC they have a solution to that problem. When a cabbie picks up a short-distance fare at the airport, the dispatcher gives him a "shortie ticket", which is a coupon that lets him skip the taxi pool line for his next trip from the airport.
Airport ZipCar?
I wonder if it would work - designated neighborhoods would have an "airport zipcar". There would be stalls at the airport. You could pick up a car, drive it to your area, park it where you are supposed to, and then somebody else headed out to logan would take it back, etc.
Might be a logistical nightmare ... might just work at certain times of year.
F-A-R-E
is what you pay to a taxi driver. About half the posts here misspell this as "fair".
This Isn't the Complaint Line
If you have a complaint about a cab why not write to the actual complaints department run by mayor for life Tom M.?
http://www.cityofboston.gov/mayor/24/
TomTom!
The two cab drivers we had in Newport News VA over the holidays both had portable GPS units for their cars. I'm really surprised more Boston cabs don't have them. It was helpful for both the driver to know where s/he was going and for the passengers to know they were headed in the right direction.
I Thought it Was Just Me...
I agree with the person who said to complain to the city. Its free, its online (on the City of Boston website) and if there are a lot of complaints (more than just mine) it might just help: http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/taxi.asp
Make sure you get the medallion number (its directly in front of you, on the back of the front seat)
Like the person from Littleton said, back home, in the Bronx we had several car services that serviced the Bronx and Harlem (DayNight and Fat8080, Holla! LOL!) and other areas the yellow cabs didnt want to go to. It was simple, you called ahead, got a flat rate and they took you straight to your house.
But what I really need in my (Boston) life is 24 hour T service, at least at North Station, South Station and the Airport. Just a little help to get you back into the City proper without having to add $25 to your return airfare.
Peace and Blessings,
ChezNiki