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Boston orders local cabs to get cleaner, safer

Boston today approved higher fares for local cabs - but at a price: In addition to allowing rates to go up (from $13.95 to $16.20 for a five-mile ride), Mayor Tom Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis announced a series of new regulations aimed at making local cabs - and their drivers - cleaner and safer.

By 2015, all Boston cab drivers will have to convert their vehicles to hybrids. More immediately, a series of new measures aimed at cleaning up the soiled reputations of local cabs goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, including:

  • Cabbies will be required to accept credit cards.
  • Cabs must be clean "at all times" - washed and vacuumed at least once a day.
  • Same goes for drivers, who will no longer be allowed to wear T-shirts (clean or not) or any sort of ripped apparel or apparel bearing offensive words or logos. Swimsuits, jogging suits, tank tops and gym shorts are right out.
  • Drivers will no longer be allowed to talk on cell phones while driving.
  • Owners have to install roof lights that indicate whether a cab is available or not and prominently display fare information in the passenger area.

"Today's announcement underscores our commitment to ensuring that Boston residents, members of the business community and our many tourists are provided with safe, clean and efficient taxi service," Davis, whose Hackney Carriage Unit oversees Boston cabs, said in a statement. "The implementation and strict enforcement of these improvements will significantly enhance our local taxi service and provide a more customer-friendly experience."

Menino said requiring hybrid cabs would lead to cleaner air, reduce gas costs for drivers and improve service for customers.


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Comments

The implementation and strict enforcement of these improvements will significantly enhance our local taxi service and provide a more customer-friendly experience.

When was the last time anything other than parking violations were "strictly" enforced in Boston?

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So, hybrid Highlanders or Tahoes are acceptable, but Fits and Golfs and Yarises aren't?

http://1smootshort.blogspot.com

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I was wondering why they explicitly regulated hybrids when, in six years, the next generation of diesels could be here, but, in any case, really, Yarii are a bit on the small side for a vehicle expected to haul tons of luggage to the airport. Otherwise, why not Smartcars or Coopers?

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This proves once again, Boston is nothing but New York City's little sister.

They did all this, a couple years ago.

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Next up: public floggings for not singing the national anthem at Fenway. Awesome.

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well at fenway it would be for not singing sweet caroline...

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What in hell does that have to do with providing service?

More to the point, though: Is there a listing of what constitutes acceptable driving apparel, or is there only a "do not wear" list?

As an ex-cabbie, and a noted curmudgeon, I'm sure I could come up with at least thirty or forty different things to wear that would be within the guidelines, yet still patently offensive to somebody.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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No t-shirts? How does that improve anything for anyone? Yet another ridiculous regulation that simply gives the hack department more reasons to hassle cabbies.

Instead of wasting their time drawing up regulations on how often you have to vacuum your cab, and what kinds of shirts you can wear, they ought to be working on a new test that actually challenges an applicant's ability to communicate in English and navigate the city - not just the landmarks, either.

I could get with a regulation that would impose an immediate 48-hour suspension for drivers caught using cell phones while they have passengers. Second offense, 7 day suspension, third strike & you fork over your hack license. That shit's got to end.

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WTF is that all about? Menino appears to have some really authoritarian aspirations. He should declare the City a Protectorate and Christen himself Meninus Maximus Mumblius I.

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Seriously, did he beef up the hackney div? If you dont have more manpower all these things are mostly meaningless. Good luck phoning a complaint and getting any follow up. I'd like to see something about respecting pedestrians in crosswalks, its like a game of chicken.

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There are some things I can and do agree with here, regarding Boston cabbies:

A) I agree with cabbies accepting credit cards

B) I also agree with the no cell-phone using while driving and while a cabbie has passengers

C) Having clean cabs

D) The installation of roof lights indicating whether or not a cab is available or on-call

E) While I agree that cabbies probably shouldn't wear swim suits, tank tops or gym shorts,
I'm willing to accept a cabbie's wearing a T-Shirt and shorts (providing they're clean),

F) Having smaller cars and hybrid cars for taxi cabs doesn't sound like a bad idea.

All that aside, however, I think they should screen prospective cab-drivers better, especially given the fact that many cab drivers have criminal records. That might also help reduce some of the bad behaviour on the part of many Boston cab drivers. Training them better wouldn't hurt either.

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G) How about the cabbies actually know their way around Boston.

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This:

"How about the cabbies actually know their way around Boston."

also cuts to the quick about the problems with Boston cab drivers.

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of "many" Boston cab drivers. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with this phenomenon, so to me it just sounds like you are making a nasty, unsupported generalization. Got some links documenting this "cabbie crime wave"?

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bad behaviour really is fairly endemic among Boston cab drivers. I've had experience with that. Many of them (though certainly not all) are rough, crude and discourteous, and they drive recklessly, to boot. Often enough, when I've asked them matter-of-factly and politely to please slow down, they've either said nothing and refused outright to slow down, or they've been quite nasty in their verbal response and persist on speeding anyway. Not good, imho.

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as I can report no such troubles in the eight or nine cab trips I've taken in the past year. However, one thing I don't like is how long I had to wait for a cab I called from West Roxbury one day. If there was anything they could do about making wait times more transparent, so you could "comparison shop", I would support that. The driver can wear a Yankees T-Shirt and matching boxers, for all I care, so long as he shows up within a half hour of a phone call.

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