INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

by Don McCurdy

Okay, what am I missing?

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission is proposing a trial for an exterior camera system designed to take pictures of the road ahead and record crash data in the event of a crash. As a former taxi fleet manager I saw the huge potential of this type of technology years ago. While the general public’s perception may be that taxicab drivers are one step removed from Kamikaze pilots the practical reality is that taxicab drivers are exceptionally good drivers from an accident percentage.

Say what? Yep, it’s true. A taxicab driver can easily drive 10 to 20 times the mileage the average driver drives in a single day while maintaining a lower accident per mile traveled percentage. So, with that in mind, I have to wonder why anyone familiar with the industry wouldn’t think the cameras were a good idea. The way I see it the taxicab driver now has an unbiased, unimpeachable witness which is something they normally will never get.

So, if these cameras are going to give the driver an even break and help protect them from the mistaken stereotype of being poor drivers how come the president of the NY Taxi Workers Alliance is opposed to the idea? Ms. Bhairavi Desai is reported to have said that the cameras would “absolutely be an invasion of privacy” and “I thought in America the law was you're innocent until proven guilty.”

Interestingly, companies that have already installed the equipment have reported huge savings on insurance payouts which would lead one to believe that the driver is exonerated more often than not. Could it be that Ms. Desai is buying into the misconception that taxicab drivers are always at fault? Or maybe it’s because the TLC is proposing the cameras. TLC bad, TWA good.

I can tell you as a recovering taxicab driver that I would have loved to have had a camera for those times the motoring public forced me onto the sidewalk to avoid them. I’ll have to remember the next time I’m cruising through Times Square in a taxicab that my privacy is being violated by the taxi camera.

When fools reign.

San Francisco’s mayor has come up with an idea almost as good as his most famous idea. The new idea, which he promised he wouldn’t do less than two years ago, is to auction taxi medallions.

Newsom is reported to have said that if drivers had more stake in the industry it COULD translate into better service. Really? Drivers wait 15 years to get a medallion now, Mr.Mayor, how much of a stake would you like for them to have. Already drivers pay $30 a shift to the owner of the medallion who may or may not be some police captain’s wife. Basically, what the mayor is doing in my not so humble opinion, is attempting to bilk taxicab drivers out of their promised reward for serving the city considerably longer than the mayor has “served” the city.

Does he really believe that this money is just going to appear as if by magic with a few strokes of a pen? Hardly. The big money boys have been cut out of the medallion market in San Francisco since the voters voted to give the medallions to the drivers. Newsom is simply attempting to reopen the medallion market to investors. So, Mr. Mayor, are you going to tell them who is actually going to pay or should I? You’re right, I’d better go ahead and do it since you probably don’t even know. If you follow the process all the way through the passenger in San Francisco will end up footing the bill. I guess that’s justice, after all, they elected these fools.

“It’s not legal.”

In a story out of Evansville Indiana a local driver is reported to have started his own company in order to protect his customer’s credit card numbers. Well, while we may have our doubts about other potential motives, the part of the story that had me laughing out loud was the “Vice President” of River City Cab Heather Williams' reported comments:

• "Maybe two percent of our business is credit cards. It's not a very large part of the business at all", and

• "It's a private radio frequency" were two of my personal favorites.

Well Heather, I think the government refers to them as “public” air waves. Not only that, if I read a customers credit card number over the air and their card attracted fraud I’d be wanting to have a lawyer handy.

Perhaps, the real winner in the article was the comment regarding listening to Heather’s “private” radio frequency, “it’s not legal to do so if I understand correctly.” Hello, Heather, I doubt that anyone willing to commit credit card fraud would be worried about an FCC violation if such a violation did exist. Well, that is unless you get the death penalty for FCC violations now.

Checker goes under.

Checker Motors Corporation has filed Chapter 11. While the taxi of my youth has long since departed the industry Checker Motors remained, making parts for a variety of different companies. No doubt that the high prices of gasoline did in the Checker Marathon which weighed around 3 tons. I will forever wonder why they never came out with the Checker Light or some other catchy name for a lighter version of the Marathon. I doubt that even a Checker Light could have survived the government mileage standards.

Beyond the TX4 I know of no purpose built taxi that is actually in production. With the TX4 now being made in China and no current purpose built taxi in production in the US you have to wonder if anyone will notice the demise of Checker Motors. They didn’t even ask for a bail out.

It’s Electrifying!

Both Ford and Chevrolet are fast tracking their electric cars no doubt to curry favor with Congress. A footnote to the story is Ford introducing the Transit Connect in the US for use as a taxicab.

Ford’s plans to introduce the fuel efficient vehicle were delayed according to reports as a result of Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to mandate hybrids. What? A politician’s attempt to gain cheap political points gets in the way of real progress? But I digress.

Ford is hoping to replace the Crown Vic, a very popular taxi, with the Transit Connect. The Transit Connect is reported to have more interior space and get better gas mileage than the Crown Vic. Perhaps they could sell it to Checker Motors. Oh yeah, they’re broke. I wonder if there’s any connection between Ford not needing the bail out money and them having the most popular taxi? Nah.

Say, who wrote this list?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal CareerCast.com has made the determination that taxicab driving is the third worst job to have. So who exactly took this survey? Certainly not anyone that’s ever driven a taxi.

Yes, it’s true that you’re not going to get rich driving a taxi, but I’ve certainly had worse jobs. Let’s see if I’ve got this right. You drive around the city, pick up women that won't talk to you in a bar and they give you money. What’s so third worst about that? Now I’m sure that being a mathematician, listed as best, is just as exciting as it can be, but until you’ve driven down the sidewalk to avoid a Kamikaze motorist you probably don’t have a grip on what exciting is. In our safe, homogenized, anti bacterial soap world mathematician may be viewed by some as the best job, but driving a cab sure can be a lot more fun. Of course, I’ve never had the unbridled joy of being a mathematician, but I did make change for a dollar bill.

Hang up and drive.

State politicians in Colorado have sponsored a bill to disallow using a cell phone without a hand free device while driving. The same bill would ban taxicab drivers, teenagers and school bus drivers from using a cell phone while driving even with a hands free device. While I applaud their intentions, I disagree with their choices for a total ban.

As a driver trainer I taught drivers to stay off the phone while transporting passengers, but many driver’s cell phones are critical to their success in the business. Beyond that, the law leaves out limousine, transit bus, tractor trailer, and shuttle drivers. Why pick on taxicab drivers? It couldn’t be based on the stereotypical taxicab driver always on the phone could it? I doubt very seriously that the Colorado Legislature reads this column, but just in case guys, how about understanding that a taxicab is a place of business and that a cell phone is the proprietor's contact with his or her customers?

—dmc

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