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East Boston street infested with taxis

East Boston News posts a complaint from Meridian Street about all the Logan cabs that scurry along it now:

We residents of East Boston that live on and around Meridian Street, East Boston get to hear, see, smell, breath and dodge the steady stream of hundreds of empty Logan taxis that bless our streets again this morning and all day long. But that's O.K. as the multi-million dollar Coughlin Bypass Road that these Logan taxis are supposed to be using gets to rest so us East Boston resident taxpayers can have a nice quiet Sunday morning. Not!

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Comments

complain to Massport. The reason why all those cabs go up Meridien Street is so that when they drop a fare at Logan, they avoid the $5.25 tunnel fee by cutting through the produce market.

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Why does the Commonwealth of Massachusetts find it necessary to charge airport travelers (taxis, livery vehicles) $5.25 to travel through the tunnel?
The toll for non-commercial vehicles is only $3.50. I have never seen a good explanation for this.
Maybe if the tolls were more equitable there would not be a problem with traffic on Meridian St.

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You are now barred from ever holding a public sector job in Massachusetts.

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I'm normally not opposed to small taxes in various places -- government services aren't free and I'd rather have most government services then not. But that taxi surcharge always gets me. I LIVE HERE. I'm not a tourist. I'm just trying to get home after a long trip. I'd take the T if I could but from Logan it is ~2 hours and three transfers instead of a 15 minute drive.

If I got a friend to pick me up we wouldn't be charged the surcharge. So why charge me if I'm in a cab?

The surcharge to rent a car in Boston (including Zipcar) is another thing that gets me. Stop charging locals like tourists. In fact, stop charging tourists like tourists too.

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Living in Eastie is even worse. If you take a cab from the airport they need to get some kind of pass from the curbside booth so they can cut the line? Im not really sure. You cant call a cab (or taxi magic or uber to get downtown and if you hail a cab downtown to go to eastie but not the airport every cabbie will insist that you foot their toll BACK to the city after you get out.

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if he wants to wait and try and get a fare to the Cape, he goes to a place over by the Hyatt called the taxi pool. You are then charged $3.25 to hang around the taxi pool until you're called up to a terminal.

This can be a 10 minute wait or a 2 hour wait, depending how busy the airport is. If you get a passenger who only goes to East Boston, the Massport guy at that terminal gives the cabbie a ticket called a short job ticket which allows him to cut back in line when he drops you off in Eastie. The driver then has 20 minutes to get back to the pool or the short job ticket expires.

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To get a cab TO Eastie? I love living there, but getting home after the T shuts down (or in a hurry) is damn near impossible without offering to pay to toll...which they can't legally ask for on the way in. I feel bad for the drivers in a way, but the consumer gets screwed in the end-either no ride home or an extra $5. Nobody wins.

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You knew the rules when you took the job. Can't deal with it? Quit. We'll find one of these 8% not working to drive the cab.

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I've actually had cab drivers refuse to take me back to Eastie from downtown because of the toll. It's kind of scary to be stuck in town after midnight without a way to get back across the harbor.

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I once got in a cab downtown and told the driver I was going to East Boston and he refused to take me unless I paid $5 for the toll back. I sat in the cab for 10 minutes at the corner refusing to get out and he refused to move while blocking traffic on Boylston Street. It was the stupidest thing ever. I took his cab number and info but never follow up, regrettably. I was going to call the police at the time but felt like it was a waste of their resources and my time.

The cabs should be charged the tunnel toll at the cab pool entrence for the airport and pass the toll on to any curbside airport pick ups. Cabs running to/from the East Boston neighborhoods should be charged the same 40 cents residents pay.

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