INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

By Don McCurdy

Did not! Did too!

During my stint as a taxicab company manger dealing with complaints, I found that it was almost a constant source of entertainment and frustration. My experience was that the vast majority of complaints were based on a lack of communication or a misunderstanding of how the system works.

Often complaints are based on driving incidents where the complainer was clearly at fault based on his own description of the events as they transpired. Inspired by the outrage that most of the complaints against taxicab drivers were being dismissed, a story out of Boston laments that rarely are drivers actually punished for alleged infractions.

Armed with only the statistics, you could easily believe that the police aren't doing anything to straighten out the problem. However, that's really not their job. Their job is to enforce the law.

I had to laugh at a complaint that should have easily been dismissed. The reporter included conclusions in the article that demonstrated the reporter's own misconceptions about how things in the taxicab industry work. The complaint? Drivers run up the meter while they're waiting for passengers to come out of their home and enter the taxicab.

The expectation that the driver's time is free is totally false. The driver pays for the vehicle and every minute they are in it they are at work. To occupy a driver's time and expect it to be for free is totally unrealistic. That said, there are most certainly issues with some drivers.

Culture, training and attitude are often overlooked factors that must be dealt with for the industry to be viewed favorably by the community. Everyone has his, her taxicab horror story. The important thing is to address the issues in a meaningful manner rather than just push them aside, send them some "taxi cash" and move on down the road.

Patterns of poor driving, poor customer service, dirty vehicles and such must be dealt with at the company level or customers will explore other options. Controlling entry into the industry may be seen by some regulators as a reasonable way to "protect" the industry. However, in "protecting" the industry regulators allow for inefficiency and poor service to be the standard rather than the exception.

Location counts.

A recent article out of New York City hailed the hailed taxicab as still being the fastest way to get from Midtown to La Guardia. Duh. Hailing a vehicle that is on site and comparing it to a vehicle that is on a fixed route or is dispatched, by any method, the hail wins.

Now, let's place a time call for the same service two hours from now, in the rain and at a grocery store and you'll have an entirely different result. If you are going to run a test do it from 14 random locations and send us the results. Great job for Midtown. Now let's try it again in Queens.

It was wild!

Much hay is being made by the taxicab industry regarding an "exciting" ride taken by a New York business executive in an Uber vehicle in Washington DC.

While the Uber driver was certainly out of control I also have to question why the taxi inspector, with no knowledge that an infraction had been committed, started following the vehicle. Is every Uber driver to be stopped and questioned whenever they load?

Numerous cities have pursuit policies for their police department. I wonder how many have pursuit policies for their taxi inspectors? Embarrassing for Uber, no doubt, but as any taxicab company will tell you regarding a complaint on an individual driver, "hey, they're independent contractors."

To Uber's credit they "deactivated" the driver, which is often far more than the taxicab companies will do. If I were the taxicab industry I would be more worried about what the New York executive said about taking Uber everywhere he goes rather than crowing about an individual incident. But then we all like to enjoy our little victories.

Let's kill it.

One of the rarely appreciated and most complained about aspects of the Uber experience is surge pricing. As a recovering taxicab driver, I can share the driver's experience of increased no loads and traffic hassles when it rains or when there's a football game or its New Year's Eve.

Now, strictly from a driver's perspective, surge pricing makes it worthwhile to actually participate in these traffic anomalies. I can see the increased compensation for the increased problems as an incentive for drivers to work at times when it would be easier to go home and wait for better circumstances.

All that said, let's bring in the politicians, many of whom use the service, and presto, the incentive is reduced. Under the threat of increased regulation Uber has "capped" their surge pricing scheme. So, now, on New Year's Eve, when you can't get service at any price call a politician and demand a ride home.

Politicians regulating business is bad, costly and counterproductive. The reason the taxicab industry is in such poor condition, partly, is these same politicians dabbling in things they don't understand and are unable to admit they don't understand.

All Uber all the time!

Uber is un-American. Uber is hurting Medallion Financial. Uber is the devil. Uber kidnapped the Lindbergh baby! You can't read the news of the industry without reading a half dozen Uber articles. While UBER and other companies like UBER may claim to not be taxicabs, they have shaken up the taxicab industry.

The Uber story is certainly entertaining for those of us who have the taxicab industry in our history, or in our blood. For decades the industry has stagnated, fueled by the taxi companies and the politicians they own. Now those same politicians are allowing the Uber experience to continue unabated.

Damn the bad luck. At some point each regulatory area will come to grips with how to deal, or not, with the Uber business model. Will it lead to a relaxation of regulation in the taxicab industry? Possibly. Google is on its way to Johnnie Cab so stay tuned for more possible upheaval in the industry.

If you have any comments regarding this or any of my articles please feel free to contact me at don@mcacres.com. —dmc

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