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Drive a taxi. It's fun. Really.
June 02, 2004
I'm going to sum up the last month quick and easy on the next post, assuming I can stay awake long enough. But first, we've had a full month to sample the effects of the fare increase on income, demand for taxis, customer annoyance and the like.
First of all, nobody's openly professed hatred of the fare increase to me. The most surprise I've seen is the 'wha? huh?' reaction to the $45 (previously $35) flat fare from JFK to Manhattan. The $1.00 surcharge between the hours of 4-8pm garners resigned shrugs, at most. I did have one guy just flat out underpay the fare without comment from him or me. I didn't have time to moan about the missing dollar. I've mentioned before that this buck is unnecessary gravy on top of what's turned out to be a seriously hefty increase in per job cash.
The major problem is the slide in the demand for taxis. By the end of the first week, I started seeing signs of fare-increase-fatigue. Meaning, people realized that this shit was for real, the amount they were used to paying was never going to come back. Tipping percentages took a fall. Lots more driving without a customer.
The 'driving without a customer' part is the evil part of the deal. The fare increase turned customers into lightning strikes of cash. You have that meter on, you're going to like what you see (if you're a driver). Strangely enough (not), this caused a fair number of drivers to become even more aggressive in the competitive aspect of taxi driving. Since nothing particularly riveting happened on this score last night, I can offer no examples. I lose that junk after a day.
The competition between taxi drivers has always existed. I hardly pay attention anymore to all but the least honorable of us. Trouble is, there seems to be more of them now. Well, strike that partially. I'm thinking drivers are starting to chill out about the whole deal, really. We've become acclimated to the fare; it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. But I remember being initially quite shocked at the prices of many of the jobs I did post-increase. They seemed so ridiculously high, it was embarrassing.
The average lease cap (being the maximum amount a garage or agent can charge a driver) was increased 8 percent. We're getting about 80 percent of this increase. We cannot possibly complain about the increased lease fees, because they're so...piddling. Let me give you an example. My old fleet/garage/whatever-it-is charged $638 for 7 PM shifts (yes, that means the whole week) before the fare hike. That was a fair chunk of money. Now it's $690. This comes out to about $7.50 more per day. Which ain't shit, really. I'm not at all sure how this works for them, but then again, the garage is a story in itself to be told later. Always later. I'm big on the patience counseling, you know. Just sit there, is what I say. See how diplomatic?
Overall, drivers will end up consistently making more. By October. I fully expect this summer to be a disaster, business-wise. Best I can say is, a bad night just isn't as bad as it used to be. There are just more of them now, is all. But it'll be alright. The last one (1996) killed business too for a good long year, as far as I can remember.
But if I remember correctly, I was/am trying to leave the industry. Yes, it's money, I totally understand. I wish it was just as simple as that. The problem is, I'm driving around and I'm going nowhere in a big hurry. Eh, well. There's plenty OF TIME TO KILL!!!!! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.
First of all, nobody's openly professed hatred of the fare increase to me. The most surprise I've seen is the 'wha? huh?' reaction to the $45 (previously $35) flat fare from JFK to Manhattan. The $1.00 surcharge between the hours of 4-8pm garners resigned shrugs, at most. I did have one guy just flat out underpay the fare without comment from him or me. I didn't have time to moan about the missing dollar. I've mentioned before that this buck is unnecessary gravy on top of what's turned out to be a seriously hefty increase in per job cash.
The major problem is the slide in the demand for taxis. By the end of the first week, I started seeing signs of fare-increase-fatigue. Meaning, people realized that this shit was for real, the amount they were used to paying was never going to come back. Tipping percentages took a fall. Lots more driving without a customer.
The 'driving without a customer' part is the evil part of the deal. The fare increase turned customers into lightning strikes of cash. You have that meter on, you're going to like what you see (if you're a driver). Strangely enough (not), this caused a fair number of drivers to become even more aggressive in the competitive aspect of taxi driving. Since nothing particularly riveting happened on this score last night, I can offer no examples. I lose that junk after a day.
The competition between taxi drivers has always existed. I hardly pay attention anymore to all but the least honorable of us. Trouble is, there seems to be more of them now. Well, strike that partially. I'm thinking drivers are starting to chill out about the whole deal, really. We've become acclimated to the fare; it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. But I remember being initially quite shocked at the prices of many of the jobs I did post-increase. They seemed so ridiculously high, it was embarrassing.
The average lease cap (being the maximum amount a garage or agent can charge a driver) was increased 8 percent. We're getting about 80 percent of this increase. We cannot possibly complain about the increased lease fees, because they're so...piddling. Let me give you an example. My old fleet/garage/whatever-it-is charged $638 for 7 PM shifts (yes, that means the whole week) before the fare hike. That was a fair chunk of money. Now it's $690. This comes out to about $7.50 more per day. Which ain't shit, really. I'm not at all sure how this works for them, but then again, the garage is a story in itself to be told later. Always later. I'm big on the patience counseling, you know. Just sit there, is what I say. See how diplomatic?
Overall, drivers will end up consistently making more. By October. I fully expect this summer to be a disaster, business-wise. Best I can say is, a bad night just isn't as bad as it used to be. There are just more of them now, is all. But it'll be alright. The last one (1996) killed business too for a good long year, as far as I can remember.
But if I remember correctly, I was/am trying to leave the industry. Yes, it's money, I totally understand. I wish it was just as simple as that. The problem is, I'm driving around and I'm going nowhere in a big hurry. Eh, well. There's plenty OF TIME TO KILL!!!!! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.
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