taxis

Matt Karolian reports a harrowing ride today with a cabbie who refused to accept that city regulations prohibit him from charging the cost of the return toll to people headed to East Boston - a ride that ended at Boston Police District A-7, where the cabbie wanted Karolian charged with fare evasion and Karolian threatened to press a kidnapping charge.

Boston Police report arresting a pair of Milton residents who they say hailed a cab in the 1100 block of Blue Hill Avenue and had him drive around for awhile before directing him to the nearby Mac's Guest House on Callender Street:

The male suspect got out and walked up to the victim’s window and asked the victim how much he owed for the ride. According to the victim, when he told the suspect what the fare was, he pulled out a gun, threatened the victim and demanded all the victim's money. The suspects then took the victim’s money and fled.

Officers went into Mac's and asked if anybody had checked in recently. When told, why, yes, a couple just checked in, police went to their room and found Jocelyn L. Ashley, 20 and Nlorkeahwon W. Paye, 26, whom the driver identified as his passengers. They were then arrested for armed robbery, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Laura Vogel snapped this photo today, asks:

Remind me again how this is my fault?

The city increased fares 16% in 2008, partly to cover the cost of credit-card processing, partly to cover higher gas prices. Some cabbies, however, remain pissed over the credit-card requirement.

At a sometimes contentious hearing on taxi regulation - at which cabbies revealed plans to sue the city over its credit-card requirements - drivers, city councilors and the city taxi czar agreed on one point: The city needs to crack down on unregulated livery drivers and out-of-town cabbies stealing business from the locals.

All sides agreed drivers of black - and now sometimes white - cars need to finally come under city regulations. All sides raised the specter of livery drivers attacking passengers and driving without background checks.

"We have no idea what kind of crazies are driving these liveries," said City Councilor Maureen Feeney, who called for the hearing to discuss removing taxi regulation from police and giving it to some sort of citizen commission that would include drivers, representatives of the local hospitality industry and some large employers, along with somebody from BPD. Nobody mentioned representation for riders until Lumina Gershfield, director of the Future Boston Alliance asked for it late in the hearing.