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INDUSTRY IN REVIEWBy Don McCurdy“I thought I would miss Bloomberg but this new guy will work out just fine.” - dmc
There are a couple of stories this month I'd classify as "reality of the street" tales. One is the "racism" of taxicab drivers in DC. I have often lamented the fate of Jerry Kozubal in Canada for pointing up the obvious and it appears another sacrifice may have to be made to the alter of political correctness for attempting to pass on unpopular information. The potential sacrifice, DC Taxi Commission Chair Ron Linton. Commissioner Linton told an investigator that drivers not picking up blacks is economic not racism. While there is no exact quote specified or video evidence presented, Councilman Tommy "Can You Hear Me" Wells is calling for blood. Now let me relate a quick story about taxicab driver "racism" I encountered as a taxi company manager. A driver for a company I managed passed up a black customer who called in and complained that he was not picked up. When asked, the driver said that he didn't work that neighborhood because he only had problems there and nobody tipped. The city didn't allow "refusal to convey (pick-up and deliver)", so I told him that in the future he had to pick up flags (fares) if he was available. He told me that that would not be a problem. He would just leave his meter on until he was out of the area. I saw it more as economics, too, especially since the driver was black. While I've never been a city councilman I have been a taxicab driver and I can tell you that there are people I will pass, based on how they look, black, white or other. Perhaps, the good councilman, who wants to be mayor, has the courage to drive around alone and pick up gangbangers, but I'm just not that brave. Til he does he's just one more hot air balloon rising to the occasion.
A recent article out of NYC headlines a taxicab driver who had his license revoked for "flirting" with a passenger. The body of the article goes on to mention the driver's making "crude" remarks to a female passenger. Now, maybe I'm old fashioned, but making crude remarks isn't "flirting." Beyond that, taxicab customers, especially women, have a right to a safe comfortable ride. No professional taxicab driver should ever be engaged in any activity that makes a female passenger uncomfortable.
Recently, a video tape of a confrontation between a New Orleans taxicab inspector and a taxicab driver was released to the public. The tape clearly shows a taxicab inspector acting outside his authority and assaulting the driver. People over react, it happens. The part of the story that offends is the fact that the city had to be ordered by a judge to release the tape and only after the tape was released did the city drop the charges against the driver. The idea that more and more video cameras are spying on us is pretty much widely understood. What should also be widely understood is that when an agent of the government, in this case a taxicab inspector, is found to be acting poorly the government will do all it can to hide the evidence. Mayor Landrieu need not be embarrassed by the actions of the taxicab inspector, but he should be ashamed of his actions in not releasing the tape immediately upon discovering the event had taken place. The mayor has demonstrated that any talk about fair and honest government on his part is just plain hot air. Good job, Mr. Mayor. Clearly, you have demonstrated your participation in maintaining the infamous standards of Louisiana politics. If we want you, the public, to know, we'll tell you. Another example of governmental selective reporting is in New York City. Reports are that the NYC Taxicab and Limousine Commission has published the 2014 Taxi Fact Book. While the report is chock full of seemingly significant information it seems to have totally overlooked driver safety training and collisions. How startling is that considering the revelation that the TLC had mishandled their records
Well Michael "Torture the Taxi Industry" Bloomberg is out and Bill "Shoot the Horse" de Blasio has assumed the mantle of Em-poorer of New York. That is, make em-poorer in that he has promised to make the rich poorer. Not that making the rich poorer will make the poor richer, but I digress. With all the issues facing any new big city mayor it was heart warming to have the new Em-poorer focus on ridding the city of those nuisance horses dragging those carriages around Central Park. Of course, the concern was for those poor defenseless animals not the choice real estate that houses their barn. No, no, no, it has nothing to do with the real estate developer who donated to the em-poorer's campaign. Well, at least they have transparency with the new regime. Perhaps, they can arrange to have the horses sent to France where they can be better served, now that they're unemployed. They eat horses in France!
There are numerous stories this month about Uber, Uber X, Lyft, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Various cities are struggling to deal with the upstart transportation services that the people want. Gee, what now? Actually, it seems rather simple to me, regulate them with the same vigor that taxicabs and You can't wet your beak at a dry well. While some would like to tell the story as a "new innovative service" the reality of the situation is that it is simply an unregulated service versus a regulated service. Regulated services simply cost more.
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