INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

By Don McCurdy

What’s the hurry?

It’s been reported that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has denied an application to Union Taxi Cooperative for temporary authority to operate. Some 300 drivers want to form their own company under Colorado’s new regulation and they’d like to get it done before the Democratic convention. Their idea is that there will be more cabs available to service the convention. In addition, it would be a great way to begin their new company.

Really? How so? If the drivers are already drivers then they are already driving taxicabs for other companies. If the temporary license had been granted then they would simply be driving for the new company. Don’t get me wrong, I’m for reasonable market entry, but don’t phony up an “emergency” to try and rush the deal.

The PUC has a responsibility to the riding public to make sure that any new company meets the criteria set forth for entry into the market. Getting stampeded into shirking that responsibility isn’t going to benefit the riding public.

Companies must demonstrate that they are financially and operationally fit to enter the market. Allowing companies that are not financially fit to enter the market could easily create unsafe conditions for passengers if corners are cut, due to financial restraints, in vehicle maintenance.

What? Taxicab companies not properly maintaining their vehicles? I’ve seen it done too many times. PUC, do your job. If you can expedite the process I’m all for it, but law is as it is for a reason. Let’s not ram a new company down the good citizen’s throats until the criteria are met.

Is anybody home?

Normally, I don’t comment on political issues, but this one is well past due. How come we’re not drilling for our own oil?

Ten years ago we heard that drilling off shore or in the pristine wilderness of Anwar would take ten years to do any good. Well, its ten years later and it would have done us a lot of good. With gas passing four dollars a gallon without slowing down isn’t it about time that we started using some common, ok it’s a misnomer, sense? Every day we send billions of dollars out of this country to countries that are willing to drill for oil. Why aren’t we? How long do the morons claiming to be “leaders” of this country think the people are going to put up with this?

Stories abound about fare increases and fuel surcharges being requested by drivers and companies across the land. Are they trying to starve out the entire industry? Why is drilling for oil even a political issue? I’m all for conservation and a clean environment, but starving to death isn’t my preferred method of achieving that aim.

As prices for every good skyrocket due to transportation costs I have to wonder, are these people asleep at the switch of just plain stupid? Or worse, are we stupid for listening to their worthless rhetoric as to why we shouldn’t be drilling our own oil? I’ve heard the long winded arguments that we need to do this or that, but the fact remains and will continue to remain that we need oil for a wide range of petroleum products not just gasoline.

The saga continues.

Regular readers, if there is such a thing, of this column may remember that I did a series of articles on an install of TranWare dispatch software at a local taxicab company. After using the system successfully for a number of years the company decided to upgrade to using mobile data terminals. For their terminals they selected Mobile Knowledge.

Oops. According to inside sources radio bad dreams, incompatible radios, turned into full blown nightmares when the marriage was finally consummated. As you may remember, I warned against mixing vendors for software and hardware and it appears that advice is still solid. How hardware and software communicate, or don’t as the case may be, is critical to the success of any computer dispatch system. The inevitable finger pointing that results from multiple vendors can be quite frustrating for people trying run a taxicab company.

There hasn’t been an exact count of the number of drivers lost to this debacle, but it has been significant according to my sources. So my free, and worth every penny, advice is make sure before you upgrade your system that you’re not downgrading your income. For starters, I’d avoid any company that’s filed bankruptcy more than once. I’ll let you know if they ever get it together, but don’t hold your breath.

End of the world postponed.

Well, it would appear that the widely reported “end of life as we know it” was a bit premature. It’s true, DC cab drivers appear to be surviving the installation of meters. Even the poor little old lady that was going to starve has managed, somehow, to get her groceries. So much for doom and gloom.

It has been reported that the transition, post lawsuit and strikes, has gone fairly smoothly with a few minor details being worked out. There have been a few casualties though.

Apparently Mayor Adrian “Darth Vader” Fenty has not reappointed some of the members of the DC Taxicab Commission. Duh. I especially liked the reported comments of the outgoing commissioner William Carter, “they want what they want, not necessarily what’s best for the city.” Good stuff there. Hey, when you’re right you’re right eh, Mr. Carter? However, it my opinion, Mr. Carter could not be more wrong.

There are a plethora of technological advancements available to the DC cab industry as a result of installing meters. Whether or not they avail themselves of those technological opportunities is up to them, but getting rid of their third world zone system at least gives them the opportunity to do so. But, we wouldn’t want progress to interfere with what’s popular now would we?

Will this qualify as a civil union?

News reports out of Philadelphia announced that the city’s two taxi driver organizations, the Taxi Workers Alliance and the United Brotherhood of Taxi Drivers and Owner-Operators, are attempting to become more unified by forming a single organization. While exact membership numbers are unclear it appears that the unified membership will be somewhere between 1200 and 1.3 million.

Ok, I made that part up. The laudable goal of the new organization, which the article did not name, will be to give the drivers a voice with the Parking Authority. Parking Authority? Oh yeah, we already covered how weird that is. My comment would be “why not?”

Drivers are an important cog in the industry. Try having an industry without them. As such, their voices should be heard. No, I’m not suggesting that the drivers should be regulating their own industry, but their concerns matter. While some drivers can get a little extreme, drivers in general have a good idea what will cause them unnecessary grief. A little practical reality mixed in with some pie in the sky regulation sure wouldn’t hurt. It also wouldn’t hurt if the Parking Authority cleaned up its image a little.

Speaking of pie in the sky regulation.

A recent article reports that NYC may not be able to green up their fleet as fast as they would have liked. It’s reported that a shortage of hybrids is causing the delay. Damn the bad luck. Apparently there aren’t enough hybrids for Hollywood and NYC taxi drivers.

While solid progress is being made on the hybrid front there are still a few retooling issues with Detroit. Besides, they have to sell all of those Hummers first. I guess the point for me is that political grandstanding in business regulation is usually not beneficial to anyone involved. Well, except perhaps the politician getting face time on the news.

The taxicab industry doesn’t gravitate toward a vehicle because it’s trendy, good looking or technologically superior. They gravitate toward a vehicle that’s practical and can handle the rigors of taxicab use. Show me a solid vehicle, with a proven track record of reliability, and the taxicab industry will be on it like hot air on politicians. It certainly doesn’t help the cause that Toyota’s engineers are reported to be “nervous” about using hybrids for taxicab service. Hah, what do they know, they only built the car right, Mr. Mayor?

Yo, taxi!

In the “you’ve got to be putting me on” department, police in Glen Falls, New York had to zap a belligerent drunk with a Taser because he wouldn’t allow himself to be led to a taxicab. While the incident is fairly minor it does point up an issue with police and private security at nightclubs that often put their problems into a taxi to become the driver’s problem.

What in the world makes these people think that an out of control drunk needs to be in a taxi? Don’t get me wrong, as a recovering night driver I love drunks as passengers, as long as they can control themselves. Potentially, violent drunks are a police matter not a transportation matter.

Sure, bars don’t want to have someone arrested that just dropped a few hundred bucks getting himself properly lubricated, but if they’re out of control then they are not viable candidates to be alone with someone they have been forced to associate with. I cannot even count the number of times I have seen these situations escalate into a driver or passenger getting injured. Three bouncers shoving a drunk into a cab may solve the problem for them, but it just created a problem for the driver.

Police, do your job. Don’t pass your problem children off on taxicab drivers who don’t have the benefit of carrying a Taser, night stick or gun. We already go into neighborhoods that you won’t without backup. That should be enough.

Same trust level though, John.

Congratulations to Hawaiian taxicab driver John Parker who’s investment in Medallion Financial enabled him to quit driving a taxicab and complete law school. While some may argue that Mr. Parker’s level of public trust may have diminished, John has always had a desire to help people and saw law school as a way to achieve that end. Now all he has to do is pass the bar, not stop while he's at it to pick up drunks.

What happens in Vegas….

It’s being reported that Las Vegas cab drivers are protesting the lack of progress in getting a new contract with Yellow, Checker and Star taxi companies. Vegas drivers are unique in that they are employees of the companies rather than independent contractors as it is in most U.S. cities. While they haven’t said if they’ll strike, I can’t see any other method of bringing the company around to negotiating in good faith. I mean why would they?

Las Vegas taxicab companies are fairly famous for having the deal locked and loaded. I’m sure it rankles them just a teeny bit to have anyone try to push them around. Las Vegas drivers have to put up with an awful lot of nonsense, man that was a hard term to keep clean, between the companies and the regulators. Perhaps they might just catch a break. Nah.

If all else fails…

It never ceases to amaze me that a story with no legs can still make the paper.

Drivers in Ft. Lauderdale managed to make the papers claiming racial prejudice despite the presence of drivers of a variety of ethnic backgrounds working for the company they claim to be prejudiced. Now I wouldn’t want to defame anyone’s character, but I know Jesse Gaddis is partial to a particular color, but that would be green.

If I’ve ever met a group of people who could care less about race it would be cab company owners. I especially liked the comments attributed to Joseph Bessard, who is reported to have attempted to contract with Yellow and GO Transportation, “maybe it’s because we are black.”

Don’t let the facts get in the way Joe. If you’re looking for someone who’s prejudiced, Joe, try the mirror. The drivers in Ft. Lauderdale may well have legitimate complaints about how things are there, but it doesn’t help their cause to trump up obviously false charges. It does nothing to improve the credibility of the Alliance of Broward Cab Drivers, an already existing problem with driver organizations. As Joe Friday used to put it, “just the facts ma’am.” But, then again, he was white.

—dmc

© 2015 TLC Magazine Online, Inc.