INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

By Don McCurdy

Language skills debated.

A recent story out of Sydney reports that the New South Wales Taxi Council has rejected a special task force's recommendation that drivers improve their language skills. The council based their decision on the number of complaints that they receive from passengers regarding driver's language skills.

The council blamed violence against taxi drivers on inebriated passengers. While I can agree that drunks are often troublesome I also have to agree with the task force that driver's improving their communication skills can improve their ability to understand when they're being insulted and when the passenger is using common phraseology that can take a different meaning if taken literally or out of context.

As a taxi fleet company manager, I developed and taught a class called "Customer Relations and Advanced Defensive Driving". Those two may not seem related but the drivers that attended were on the verge of having their contracts cancelled by the company for either passenger complaints or poor driving. The class was a last attempt to improve their driving and communication skills to an acceptable level.

The one fact that stood out was that English as a second language drivers took customers comments literally in cases where the customer's choice of common phrases sounded like an insult. Once insulted their responses often created or escalated what may otherwise have been a mundane situation into a complaint generating event.

Language and cultural differences must be handled properly for a driver to be successful. I once managed a driver who had received a complaint from an other motorist The taxi driver insisted hat he'd been a road rage victim. He told me that the other motorist got out of his car and started yelling at him. The taxi driver had simply "flogged" him in retaliation for the humiliation and insults he received from the motorist.

Well, he was more than a little put out when I told him that beating another motorist with a club was unacceptable behavior. My own opinion is that a good working knowledge of the language and customs of the customer base, the community and the country within which one is working is critical to a driver's success. My vote, not that I have one, goes with the task force.

The devil you say!

The City of San Francisco's taxi commission voted to keep the medallion number 666 on the street despite the medallion holder's claim that the number had brought him nothing but bad luck. I'd like to tell you that it's all just a bunch of superstitious nonsense but the only cab I ever had that got totaled in an accident was number 13.

The company was kind enough to give me number 17 to replace the destroyed vehicle which was hit by a flying pickup truck. Count me on the medallion holder's side on this one. Or, perhaps, the taxi commission should stay on the 13th floor the next time they visit Las Vegas.

Green with envy.

There are numerous articles in the last month about the rage of the age, hybrid cabs. Perhaps, the comment that most fits my opinion is the quote from Boston Cab Company CEO Brett Barenholtz:

"At this point we're on hold until we see how this goes".

He also reports that the program is "working well".

The price for the 15 hybrids is quoted at $450,000 versus $375,000 for the same number of Crown Victorias. I see the "wait and see" position of the Boston Cab Company as reasoned and reasonable.

Let's not get excited about the hybrid until all of the Florida votes are counted. After the hybrid has passed the test of time in the industry that kills all cars we can all get stoked about what a great world it will be if all cabs were hybrids.

Other green adventures in taxi land include a positive note from Vancouver on the Toyota Prius which is rumored to be able to do 100 miles an hour, and a negative report on an electric car in NYC.

Does anyone other than me wonder who Toyota will get to be the spokesman for the Prius? Somebody that could bring brand recognition like Joe Isuzu. I guess Toyota isn't going to be interested where you spend the money you save. Would you call that mixed emotions?

Renegade captured!

An 80 year old former taxi driver was nabbed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission giving "free" rides in his Checker cab. While it makes an amusing story for the papers it does point up an issue that most regulatory jurisdictions don't adequately address, gypsy cabs.

I have heard numerous complaints from company owners regarding gypsy cabs but have seen little or no action to regulate them. Fly into most any airport in the country and you can get solicited by licensed and unlicensed "limo" drivers.

While it does little good to file an official complaint, since "we don't have the manpower" to enforce them, it is a problem that can be solved if the regulators fund the enforcement of their own laws.

What happens in many cases is that the regulators end up regulating the willing and ignore the illegal and under insured gypsies. While licensed "limos" may not be gypsies, they act in the same manner when they steal trips from other drivers acting in a legal and authorized manner.

It seems to me that the regulators have a responsibility to those who are in compliance with the laws to enforce the laws against those who are not. But that's just me. Most jurisdictions are happy to take the medallion fees and provide little or nothing in return. Kudos to the NYC TLC.

Strike, strike, strike!

Well the New York Taxi Workers Alliance is threatening to strike again, yawn. By the time they get around to it, slated for this month, the urgency of the situation will have passed. Could it be that they're concerned that their strike will have as much impact as the recent taxi driver's strike in Chicago? Strike? Where? Here? When? Damn, I missed it.

Yes, that's right. There was a taxi driver's strike in Chicago. Unfortunately, nobody noticed. If the Taxi Workers Alliance is half as powerful as they claim they could bring New York City to a halt. Hell, there probably wouldn't even be anybody to report the news since most of them take cabs to work.

That said, the true feat of getting the drivers to go along with the strike still remains. My experience with taxi driver strikes has been that drivers who aren't motivated to strike see it as an opportunity to rake in the cash and end up looking back fondly on the strike days.

The "true believers" will, of course, tow the line and claim a great victory, but the rank and file will do what cab drivers do, drive their cabs. I'm sure that Medallion Financial won't mind them missing a payment or two as long as it's for a good cause. There are several truths I have learned in my life and I'm happy to share them with you:

Cab drivers hate change.

Organizing cab drivers is dramatically similar to herding cats.

Cab drivers hate change.

Taxi driver union organizers do not understand how to herd cats.

Cab drivers hate change.

If the boys from the Taxi Workers Alliance pull off a meaningful strike my hat goes off to them, but seeing is believing. Until you bring the city to it's knees you're just a bunch of malcontents claiming power they have not.

Get on with it, the suspense is killing me.Maybe they should strike, strike, strike.

Washington, DC and the meter game.

Well, that bunch in DC is talking about meters again. Of course they had to cancel a meeting to prevent a riot, but they're talking about it. You hear the usual "we'll all go out of business" excuse, but the plain fact of the matter is that the driver is in control of how much he gets paid if the passenger is unfamiliar with the zone system. Fine for DC residents most of the time, I guess. Does anyone in their right mind live there? Unfortunately, for visitors and tourists it's pretty much whatever the driver says.

I'm a veteran of the taxicab industry and I had no idea what the fare would be when I traveled to DC on business. Sure, you'll get the usual "I saw all three Washington Monuments" stories, but a taxi meter is standard equipment. Good grief, is it the nation's capital or Jerkwater USA? If it's any consolation there's a big controversy in Nantucket over taxi meters also. Nantucket? That should give you a clue. Did I mention that cab drivers hate change?

Language not an excuse.

Recently, Judge Wanda Molina in Jersey City is reported to have ruled that unfamiliarity with English was not an excuse for drivers failing to present re-inspection documents to the city in a timely manner. I have to wonder if the drivers attempting to use that excuse understand the word audacity? I doubt it, since they claim they can't speak English. How did they manage to get a taxicab license if they can't speak English? You have to wonder how many cab drivers there are in say Germany that don't speak German. The best line, however, had to come from Wayne Anderson, the chief enforcement officer:

"We want to iterate that we don't have the manpower to chase them down".

Where have I heard that before.

—dmc

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