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Hell on wheels
By adamg on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 4:30pm
If Boston cab-fleet owners want fare increases, they should be forced to clean up their acts, City Council President Maureen Feeney says in a letter to Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who oversees taxi fares in Boston.
The taxicab industry has been described as "sharecropping on wheels" with drivers forced to pay thousands of dollars in fees before they can earn any salary. This system penalizes both drivers and passengers. It is time for a comprehensive look at our taxi cab system in Boston. I ask you to strongly consider establishing a commission to review the taxi cab industry in Boston and recommend reforms to address the serious concerns raised both by passengers and by drivers.
My office has received several reports of illegal and out-of-town cabs operating in Boston, and of illegal kickbacks from hotel doormen to livery services. Taxi cab drivers face serious challenges and, in addition to your hearing today, I hope you will continue to work with them to address these issues. ...
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Comments
Yeah, and another thing
How about forcing hacks to learn some more efficient ways to get around Boston? I know, hilarious. But I can not tell you how many times I am taken on the most roundabout possible journey through Boston to get anywhere or nowhere. I actually had a cabbie pick me up outside Fenway Park after a game, drive around the block, and right back into traffic on Ipswich. And someone needs to tell them there are other ways to get around aside from Storrow Drive. If I'm going to be forced to pay more, then they could at least make an effort to find a more economical (not to mention time-efficient) route.
And they should all be driving hybrids.
or how about the credit card runaround...
I called Metrocab once for a pickup. "Credit or cash?" "Credit." "okay, 15 minutes."
Cabbie shows up- the meter is already running and shows $2.85; the asshat started it on the other side of the intersection.
We then sit while he tells me about a $20 minimum that Metrocab dispatch didn't mention. I mention this, and get an angry tirade about how they take "20%" (wrong, it's about 2% plus $0.20-0.25, maybe he should try arguing with someone who didn't work for a payment processing company once) and how much it cost him to fill up his tank (so don't drive a big huge car with a V8...? But alas, Cabbies are as addicted as the cops are to big pig Crown Vics)
Meanwhile, the meter is STILL running... I love how they take the "$24/hour waiting" to mean "we'll bill you for every fraction of a minute we can the cab is stationary"...
Newsflash
Yes, starting the meter before the fare is inside the cab is a punk move (and against regulations, to boot). But cabbies are *required* to drive Crown Vics - it's not a choice. There are strict regulations about models and *model years* that can be used as cabs. On top of that, most of the cabbies out there don't own their cab or the medallion, they lease by the shift. It *is* "sharecropping on wheels" - take it from someone who has often worked 12-hour shifts for less than $50. (The company and the cab owner made money on those shifts, I put in the hard work and got the scraps.)
Rest assured, when I was driving a cab I wanted those useless cabbies off the street more than *you* did. Whatever few dollars they scammed from you by starting the meter early or not knowing where they were going, those bucks are dwarfed by the business lost to black cars and limos. (OTOH, I often made ridiculous tips because I was always straight-up. Hell, I got tipped for almost every trip on which I got lost, because as soon as I messed up I a) fessed up, and b) announced there'd be no charge for my error.)
why do the police oversee
why do the police oversee cab fares?
Weird localism
I drove a cab for a short time in the late 70's.
Cops had something called the Hackney Division
that had be-all and end-all authority over all
Boston taxis. Seemed to date back to horse and
buggy era. Looks like it hasn't changed much
since then. Nor has the possibility of making a
living wage driving a cab.
in London cabbies have to
in London cabbies have to pass a test on their knowledge of the city.... in just about every city they take credit card, use the Fast Lane at tolls, etc. If we start paying big city prices then they should be required to give big city service. I can't believe how many cabs I get it in at the airport, say "north end", and them ask me which tunnel is better.
I never take cabs here in
I never take cabs here in Boston. The two times I did, they gave me the run-around and took me the longest way possible, pretending to get lost, pretending not to know where obvious places were located. I HATE boston cabs. In NYC? I have never had a problem at all.
The sad thing is...
...they're not pretending. They really don't know their way around, or where obvious places are located. That's the honest truth - there's no profit in going the "long way," so only the most profoundly retarded drivers even try that. They're just ignorant, they only know one way to do anything, and God help you if you insist on a better route.
Do not make any suggestions
I've nearly been thrown out of a moving cab on more than a few occasions for either politely or vociferously suggesting a more economical route when I notice I'm being lead astray.
I've done my own work on this, and I average a really good cab ride once in every 10 trips. That one, however, is like the most joyful, amazing experience ever. I sit in the back with a grin a mile wide. It makes me very happy. I've been known to hand out a tip that matches the fare for those rides -- when I've got enough cash on hand.
Yep...
...see my comment above, re: the kinds of tips I used to get. It's really not that hard to be a top shelf cabbie - from day *one*, I discovered that people were more than happy to direct me, or let me check my maps, as long as I was straight up about not knowing the route or destination. I could literally see the counterintuitive look of relief on people's faces when they realized I wasn't going to just drive around aimlessly, hoping to accidentally stumble across their destination.
That reminds me
Left Logan one time, bound for Cambridge, and the hack looped around and headed for the Ted Williams. Never mind that it was LOADED with traffic (I had the misfortune of landing during rush hour), but it was much longer and more expensive (in time, fuel and fare) to boot.
24 Hour T Service
How dare they!
Maybe if they stopped ripping off their fares, more people would support their cause.
Okay so the last time I hailed a cab to go from Logan to the Fleet Center, and the cabbie drove me through Revere, Medford, Somerville and Cambridge before he made it back to Boston, he was just making up for the increase in fees and gas prices...
...oh, I get it.
GETDAFUKOUTTAHEAH!