Specious Uber: If I Am Uber's Customer, Does That Make Uber Passengers My Employees? & A Bad Sci-Fi Film? Attack Of The RoBo Cabs! & No Fun Working Uber Eats And DoorDash Apps in Los Angles, California & Snow Geese Near The Skagit River Estuary

 I Thought I Was An Uber Driver.  Wrong!  I Am Their Customer!

Specious, for a long time now, has been one of my favorite words, and with the current Uber CEO's pronouncement that everyone driving for Uber are "their customers," and certainly not some kind of employee, I find the word very helpful in describing this statement, and bringing into play another appropriate word, sophistic.   One definition for specious is "having a false look or genuineness: sophistic.  Sophistic means "plausible but fallacious," the word's roots dating way back to 5th Century BC Greece and a group of philosophers collectively known as the Sophists, hence the term, sophism.  Sophism means "an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially: such an argument meant to deceive." 

This is how specious is applied to Dara Khosrowshahi's assertion that all of us utilizing the Uber app around this great big world are the company's customers, and not in any "way, shape or form" employees deserving of usual employee benefits.  Using this kind of specious argument and logic, it must then be true that all the folks I have picked up the past three weeks are not my passengers at all but people I have employed to give me money, their destinations more than incidental.  And if you believe that, then you certainly believe, "hook, line, and sinker" that I and millions of others like me are Uber customers despite their control over our workplace reality.  My last comment is one I have used before and that is "Ha Ha Ha!"  Ain't it funny!?

"Flee for Your Lives! The RoboTaxis are Coming!"

Yes, it's true, in San Francisco where GM Cruise and Waymo have been operating RoboTaxis in limited areas of that great city, they are now planning on expanding the service despite real concerns expressed by City safety regulators.  They want to increase their car's speed limits from 25 MPH to 55 MPH.  But one recent problem is that a mere five days ago all 300 of GM's robotaxis have been recalled because one of the them ran into a city bus.  Lucky it wasn't going 55 miles per hour! 

One thought is, why are they picking on the skilled workforce comprised by professional cab drivers?  Here in Seattle, given that 95% of everyone driving a cab owns the car,  and hence, mostly " at fault accident free," why must this kind of professional operator be replaced by a robot?  Talk about specious!

Don't Spill That Entree!

I can't recommend more highly the NY Times Sunday edition article about Uber  Eats and Door Dash delivery drivers in LA.  The title is "$388 in Sushi. A $20 Tip."  The sub-heading is "Apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash make it easy to get restaurant food delivered to your door---and for drivers to earn very little."  Reported by Kellen Browning with photos by Mark Abramson.   In the print edition, its on page one of the Sunday Business section.   It features four drivers and their ensuing reality of trying to scrape out a living in an expensive city.  The writing is great.  Are these folks having much fun?  No, not a lot.

Go See the Geese

Last Friday, I drove up to view the migrating snow geese and glad I did.  I found a spot where I was sandwiched between thousands of the birds eating lunch in a farmer's field.  Take exit 221 off of north-bound I-5 and proceed west on Fir Island Road.  The birds were everywhere but hurry because they will be heading north soon.  A bonus are the many nearby fields of daffodils and tulips.  Incredible fields of startling color.  Check out the internet for more instructions.    

More Uber Impressions & Unfair Demands From Puget Sound Dispatch & More On How To Form A New Taxi Association That Would Take Over The Local Transportation World! & Lingering Damage From Taxi: 196 Pounds

One Thing Is Clear: Less Driving Time

The biggest positive is the distance traveling from the initial ride request to the pickup address, usually one to three blocks, the Uber app enabling me to pick up the fare in 1-3 minutes, and sometimes less than a minute.  With Seattle Yellow taxi, the pickup address, especially in outlying areas, can be 5-10 miles, taking an average of 8-15 minutes to arrive.  This is both tiring and wasteful of time, money and gasoline.   The quick Uber response time also makes for happier passengers.  More and more tips are coming my way despite the more-or-less 40 % higher fare than competing taxi rates.  Passengers don't like waiting.  As I have said, the Seattle Yellow Taxi response times often were 30-60 minutes, which is completely unacceptable.  Who wants to wait in the rain and cold?  No one unless you are an otter or beaver but being good swimmers, they neither require Uber or taxi.  They have better things to do than stand on a city corner, instead eating calms or chewing on branches.  They're smarter that way.  

And before I forget, another plus is, at least so far, the complete absence of druggies, hookers, minor criminals, etc.  Obviously the social-economic class using Uber is different.  They can afford, or don't mind paying the extra money.  Now though I always have, and always will treat every passenger with respect and care, I have never enjoyed the BS and madness some customers bring into my car.  While understanding full well taxi is often nuts, I have never embraced the insanity.  It's no fun dealing with psychosis. 

Puget Sound Dispatch Fantasyland 

Unfavorable comments from cabbie friends tells me beyond any doubt that PSD (Seattle Yellow Cab) management has lost connection with taxi reality, acting like they are back in the year 2003 and not 2023.  Two previous discussions the past few months with PSD's general manager certainly made me suspect whether he (and PSD) understood that Yellow Cab, and the industry in general were operating in a dream-like landscape, mistaking their dream state for actual waking reality.  

The reality is this: Seattle's local taxi industry is on the verge of collapse, and to think otherwise is foolish.  This imbecility is taken further by PSD now insisting that Yellow's single owner operators adhere to unreasonable standards set by the MV Metro Access account or be fined $50.00.   There are too many things wrong with this to list but there can only be two correct responses.  

Either PSD stops capitulating to unnecessary MV dictates or all of Yellow's drivers should stop taking MV fares, removing that account from their digital  account profile.   Only by striking against MV will PSD emerge from its slumber and realize who is actually in charge: the 240 plus cabbies working at Yellow and not PSD.   PSD died when the BYG Co-op disappeared, PSD forgetting to attend their own funeral.   It's now up to Yellow's independent owner/operators to complete the burial.  As was I telling a friend, it is now completely paramount that he and the other drivers demand complete financial transparency for PSD.  They need to know how THEIR money is being spent.  And that fees demanded by PSD must go down.  

Figuring it out, I realized that I was spending over $18,000 each year operating YC 1092 before I made a dime in real profit.  That's crazy, translating in over 600 hours at $30.00 per hour to make that $18,000.  None of this is funny.  None of this makes any real sense unless of course you are sleeping and never interested in rejoining the waking world.  Hibernation is good for bears but even they emerge from their dens.  Awaken and smell the Spring taxi flowers!

More Taxi Association Creation Tips

Talking to a longtime taxi buddy yesterday, he lamented that it is impossible to get his fellow drivers to cooperate about anything, not seeing how it is possible to "get these guys" to agree to forming a new association.  And yes, I replied, dealing with cabbies is like trying to "herd cats," and cats possibly more pliable that cab drivers.  But if the incentive is money---paying less and making more---I am sure most would be interested.   

Anyone can start doing the necessary footwork by picking up your telephone and dialing.  First call an insurance agency like Key and ask them what would the group rates be for say, two thousand associated drivers all with perfect or nearly unblemished drivers records?   It is gonna be cheap.  

The next call to make is to professional USA-based callcenters.  While eventually your association would want to have their own Seattle-based dispatch, it would be much easier to begin with an outsourced call center.   Make sure your estimates include 24/7 dispatch because with such a large cab association you will be busy 24/7, your cheaper rates and fast pickup times making you extremely popular.  And of course you would be advertising that fact, having money for publicity now that company/association profits aren't being siphoned off by the PSD Board of Directors. 

Contact big auto repair shops like Guru and ask what kind of rates would they provide you to repair and service a 2000 plus taxi fleet.  You can bet they would be overjoyed to have such a steady customer base.  

More later when I am less tired.

Why Am I Tried?  The Living Death that is Taxi

Today I weighted myself and I was shocked to find I was 196! pounds.  My normal average weight has mostly been 155-160 pounds.  While I hold my weight well, 40 pounds over is no joke and I am getting serious about losing it.  I am tired because I played some 3 on 3 basketball today, in addition to taking my usual long walk.   It was fun and I actually played well at times.

  For those who don't know, I started playing when I was ten and started my first organized game at age 13.  No that long ago I once played 2 hours a day or more 6 days a week.  But more recently I have allowed taxi to make me fat, even after watching my diet.  

And that's the sorry truth about driving cab.  It's damn unhealthy.  What I have been experiencing is a cycle of my weight going up and down.  When I have taken a long break, I get thinner.  Start driving again and I bloat out.  Now I am determined to lose the pounds, watching the calories and getting much more vigorous exercise.  At age 69 I can't play games with my body.  The same is for you.  Don't let taxi or Uber kill you.  It will if you let it.  Have no doubt whatsoever about that.  I remember when Bob, the ex-cop who was driving Yellow Cab, stopped at a White Center grocery store, and just made it to a bench before dying next to his cab from a heart attack.  No, you don't want that to happen to you!  Not at all.

 

The Black And The White Of It: Seattle's Extinct Taxi Uniform & Uber Reality: Real Details On What It Means Driving Ride-Share & Important Steps Toward Creating A New Sustainable Seattle/King County Taxi Association & Taxi Medallion For Sale

 When All Of Seattle's Cabbie's Looked Like Restaurant Waiters

To begin my stint as a ride-share driver, I honored my recent cabbie past by wearing a white shirt and black pants, something once mandated as the correct and proper attire of the Seattle/King County cab driver.  Many chaffed at that requirement and were overjoyed when told, "sure, no more uniforms" but all you gotta do is not object to Uber and Lyft entering your market unfettered, minus any operational vehicle caps.  Now didn't that work out very well, did it, having done away with those silly parochial/Catholic school clothing standards, cabbies can now dress just like their 28,000 plus TNC counterparts, but one thing the vastly diminished taxi work force won't be doing is "laughing all the way to the bank."  No, very doubtful they will be doing that.

Is It All About Algorithms?  Perhaps, Perhaps Not

To say that my first few days driving Uber has been eyeopening is a vast understatement.  Having no real idea what to expect, I found myself in a bewildering contradiction of efficiency, inefficiency, lack of transparency, poor communication, bad coding and algorithmic discrimination.  "What the hell is he talking about?" many of you might ask.  Well, the term opaque, meaning, at least in part, from a definition  taken from the Cambridge English Dictionary, "difficult to understand or know, especially when intentionally secret or made complicated," explains much.  And opaque can certainly describe much of what I have experienced, sometimes completely befuddled as to what was or is occurring.

Now admittedly, I am somewhat dense when it comes to understanding how apps work, even the basic functions of my new iPhone is puzzling but "dumb I'm not but dumb I'm made" when little effort is truly expended to prepare the new Uber driver for their first day.  The theory it seems to Uber's educational efforts comes from the old " swim or sink" axiom of vocational training, or how militaries usually treat their new recruits.  If you drown or are killed, no problem as there are lots of new volunteers or conscripts to replace the fallen.  A good/bad current example of this is daily headlined by the Russian incursion against Ukraine, tens of thousands of ill-trained Russian soldiers dying after being tossed headlong into battle.  Same could be said, minus the fatalities, of how new Uber drivers are put into action minus adequate training and indoctrination.   And Uber fully knows this, using fare/trip request algorithms against the new driver, limiting the rides offered to you while simultaneously saying that will change once you meet a certain quota of completed trips.  

What kind of contradiction is this?  Well, not a very kind one, made worse, as I have said, by the lack of training and real preparation.  It is arrogance of the very worse kind,  something confirmed by the nice young woman I spoke to at Uber's Greenlight Hub office space located at 4634 East Marginal Way South, Suite 200.  Not that she was arrogant, no, not at all; instead extremely frank, acknowledging Uber's short comings.  When pointing out how difficult it was at times finding the passenger's location, she said "lazy coders" were part of the problem, implying that the coders not caring how both the driver and passenger were impacted.  

I told her how, on Saturday night, when 60 thousand motocross fans poured out of Seahawk stadium, the app told me my customers were at 1st Ave. South and South Atlantic when in reality they were at the corner of 1st Ave South and South Main.   I had driven past them, and the only way they found me was by running six blocks to my car.  Now that isn't efficient.  Looking it up, Uber has provided tens of billions of rides worldwide since its inception in 2012.  One would think, that with all that practice, it would be a smooth running operation but from my short experience, it clearly isn't.  Pretty crazy is what I say, and depressing.  What does it all mean?   Efficiency, or not, is what Uber is.

Here are concrete examples of the good and bad.  My very first fare said much about how the well the app works, or doesn't.  I was sitting on NW 62nd at the corner of 15th NW and 62nd facing east.  I accept the trip and very briefly see an address, 1423 NW 65th, which then disappears after about 2-3 seconds.  Then the app begins guiding me to the fare location, to where I wasn't quite sure, telling me to turn around, proceed west to 20th NW, turning north to NW 65th, then turning right or east to what was the vanished  address.   As it turns out, the passenger had first called Lyft but the driver got lost, and afraid she would be late for her Capitol Hill appointment, requested Uber.  By needlessly rerouting me in the wrong direction, I lost nearly 5 valuable minutes that I wished I hadn't lost.  But me being me, I was able to maneuver through all the heavy traffic from Ballard to 12th and East Pine, getting her there eight minutes early.   

This 'disappearing address" business is a real problem.  If I miss it, or not receive it at all, I find myself having no choice but to follow the app routing, in real terms having no idea where I am going until my arrival.  It is nuts and not efficient.  But I will say that normally the given trip is usually very close, meaning I am averaging pickup times of 1-3 minutes, which is incredibly efficient.  

Obviously there is good and bad to this, and next week I will have more details for everyone to ponder and consider.  One thing that's very clear is that Uber's fare structure is about 40% more than Seattle/King County taxi rates.  The Ballard to Capitol Hill trip cost the passenger $42.00.  I got $24.50, which more or less is the taxi fare.  Monday I went from Northgate to Maple Valley and was paid $97.50 for the trip.  The passenger's cost was $135.00.  This kind of fare structure is advantageous for the driver but not so much for the passenger.  And remember, all my earnings come from a monthly overhead of $132.00 and not my taxi $1300.00.   There is no comparison.  As I have been writing the past few months, Uber won the transportation argument.  Taxi lost.

One last comment is that by controlling and limiting the number of trips I am initially receiving, by using their trip request algorithm to regulate my earnings, to me it's all a clear violation of my non-employee position, treating me more like an employee and not an independent contractor.  Does the City/King County care about this dynamic, this controlling of my movements?   No, of course not.   And if some GOP fanatic reads this, they really know who's to blame.  Former Vice-President Al Gore!  Isn't he the one responsible for designing these awful "al-gor-rithms?"   I bet Hillary Clinton also has something to do with this!

A Quick Taxi Blueprint for a Future Super-Sized Seattle/KC Taxi Association

The very first step is forming an organizing committee of between 6-12 Seattle/KC cab drivers.  From there you divide responsibility to contact all current medallion owners and drivers to communicate what. and why you think a new large taxi association is the correct approach to longterm industry sustainability: it would lower costs across the board, allowing everyone to confront Uber and Lyft head-on, eventually overtaking customer share and volume. 

If you then see there is enough interest, you begin collecting monthly dues of say $50.00 to create a fund for future activities, including the hiring of someone capable of putting together a company of this size.  As the City/KC is looking at a two-year timeline, and with the contributions of over 1000 current medallion owners, you will have enough cash on hand to make a real start.  What you should envision is an association of 2000 or more affiliated  cabs , all under the moniker of say "United Seattle-KC Taxi."  You wouldn't have to repaint all the cars, instead adding the United Lettering and phone numbers. 

Next week I will add more potential operational details.  This can be done, and in the long run, everyone would be the richer for it.

1092 City Medallion Up for Sale

I will be entertaining best offers.  What is the medallion worth these days?  Who knows but I will soon be finding out.  Email me at jblondo558@gmail.com.  Only serious offers, please.

 

California Appeals Court Rules In Favor For Uber And Lyft & And Answering A Reader's Question Concerning 2,600 Projected Taxis

 "The oligarchs are dancing in the streets tonight." Taken from a quote by Veena Dubal, Law Professor at the UC College of Law, San Francisco

On March 13th, a three-judge panel comprising the CA State Appeals Court ruled in favor of upholding the TNC endorsed Proposition 22, whereas California voters, subjected to a $200 million dollar campaign, voted to overturn Assembly Bill 5, a law granting employee status and protections to Uber, Lyft and Door Dash drivers.  It wasn't a complete victory for ride-share companies because the judges ruled that one section of Prop 22 improperly prevented union organizing, which opened up the door to potential union representation.  This particular case came about due to a 2021 lower court ruling that Prop 22 was unconstitutional.  This judgement overruled that finding.  Longtime readers might remember me reporting on that decision.  Nonetheless, the argument isn't over as it will be heading to a court capable of a more final say, the State of CA Supreme Court.  Meanwhile, in the legal interval, Uber is in a celebratory mood. 

Too Many Cabs? A reader asks.

A regular reader pointed out that the City of Seattle & King County's goal of ultimately having 2,600 operational cabs might not be wise due to the unlikely business sustainability of having that many cabs plying the Seattle and County streets.  He has a point, given how the overall taxi fleet has shrunk to numbers never seen before in our modern era.  

What would it take for Seattle's taxi industry to rebound to a place where it could actively support those kinds of numbers?  Organization, my friends, combining all the cabs under one business umbrella, similar to the old BYG co-op but this time a far more democratic association which could greatly reduce overall operational costs.  Wouldn't everyone love having a $50.00 per week dispatch fee and say monthly insurance coverage costs of $200-300.00.  It could it done but don't volunteer me, please, because I am too old and long-in-the-taxi-tooth for such efforts.  But if I were 30 years younger, I would take up that banner and charge up the hill.  Anyone out there have the time and energy to take on this fight?  It would be worth the effort.

An Official Message From King County: "What Do The New (Taxi) Ordinances Do?"

FAST (King County) sent me this very important information.  I also had a King County regulator call me.  There is good news for anyone currently operating a taxi or might be planning to.  Please note this probably means that all Seattle/King County licensed cabs should eventually, in a year or two, be able to work the airport.  Whether that means you first have to join the airport taxi drivers union, I don't know.  That will be something you the individual cabbie will have to figure out. Contact the Port of Seattle after all the new rules are finalized.  And if that permission is granted, please remember that Sea-Tac International Airport isn't a mythical taxi Shangri-La or that wonderful Goose laying all those Golden Eggs.  Now that you will be able to work every King County road, street, village, town and city, take advantage and do it.  Expand your taxi horizons.  James Hilton would be proud.

Two Pages from King County

What you will be reading are the exact wording sent to me.  Read all this very carefully, with some of the goals outlined positive, while some maybe not as much.  Ultimately it will be up to all those still in the industry to decide what is best going forward for a taxi industry in deep flux.  Personally, I have my doubts whether Seattle's, and America's taxi industry can survive Uber's ability to manipulate the personal transportation industry.  Uber, as shown over the past 13 years, is not nice.  The provisions listed here by King County are designed to assist in the taxi industry's survival.  One can only hope.

Page One:  What do the new ordinances do?

In 2023, the City and County plan to each transmit two ordinances affecting the for-hire transportation industry to the City Council and the County Council.   The combined effect of the ordinances is streamlined taxicab and for-hire vehicle regulations located in new chapters of City and County codes. Key changes include:

1.  Allow City Only and County Only medallions to operate throughout the region with a new reciprocity endorsement (a reciprocity endorsement-a medallion).  (Editor note: my keyboard doesn't have the symbol used by KC, so I inserted a dash instead)

2.  Convert all for-hire vehicle medallions to taxicab medallions.

3.  Adjust insurance requirements and adapt to a changing insurance market and policy models that will attempt to make the Seattle market more attractive to other insurers.

4.  Eliminate outdated operating requirements and align City and County requirements such as no longer referring to uniforms or personal hygiene and aligning differences in vehicle age limits. 

5.  Establish a new regional for-hire driver's license with the option to obtain an enhanced license that includes a fingerprint-based Federal background check and a third-party background check.

6.  Require adoption of smart taximeters including integration with public facing regional trip-planning tools, integrated payment processing, and authorizing greater use of dynamic fare setting-all of which are key features of a modernized fleet.

7.  Simplify enforcement and penalties and create a more coordinated appeals process:

        a.  The City and County will issue civil citations (monetary penalties) and license actions                                  (suspensions, summary suspensions, revocations, and denials).

       b.   Appeals will go to the hearing examiner for the jurisdiction issuing the citation or license action.

8.  Establish a uniform age limit of 15 years, lower the minimum for-hire driver age from 21 to 20, and           adjust maximum allowable driver operating hours (these requirements align with the State TNC law           adopted in 20220.

9.  Authorize the County to set a minimum fare for short trips such as those from Sea-Tac Airport (the            ordinances will not affect other decisions made by the Port of Seattle regarding ground transportation        service).

10.  Establish certain vehicle owner and driver protections, including provisions for advanced notice of            contract changes and the opportunity to provide input on agency policies that affect drivers. (Editor            note:  Allowing owner input is some very important)

11.  Plan for the use of all electric vehicles (EVs) when technology and infrastructure make EV's viable            for for-hire transportation:

      a.  The ordinances will not require the use of EVs but will acknowledge as an option.

      b.  The City and County will work with partners to ensure drivers have access to programs for EV              purchases and charging infrastructure.

Page Two: Key Deadlines

ORDINANCE ADOPTION:  For-hire vehicle and taxicab associations are licensed as transitional regional                                                dispatch agencies for at least one year, but not more than two years

ONE YEAR LATER:  Owners of previously deposited, revoked, relinquished, etc. medallions must notify                                       director of plans

MARCH 31ST, 2025:  For-hire vehicles and medallions convert to taxicabs (deadline may change)

                                     Adopt a smart taximeter system (requirements rule to be issued confirming                                                   deadline

                                     Any remaining transitional regional dispatch agencies must apply for a regional                                           dispatch agency license to continue operating

New Rules (dates TBD):  Splitting a dual medallion into a City and a County Medallion

                                          Vehicle markings

                                          Dispatch system for WAVs

                                          Rates

What is happening with medallions?

TYPES:  For-hire medallions are eliminated and convert to taxicab medallions

                                            ---No changes to WAT medallions

CAPS:   Before---City: 1,050 taxicabs & 200 for-hire vehicles

                             County: 561 taxicabs & 471 for-hire vehicles

             After---City: 1,300 taxicabs

                         County: 1,300 taxicabs

JURISDICTION:  City and County medallion reciprocity endorsements are created and are required for                                  Seattle medallions and County medallions to operate regionally

                              Duel medallion owners have the option to split into a City medallion and a County                                      medallion, obtain reciprocity endorsements for each, and put two vehicles on the road

SCHEDULE:  Vehicle licensing will transition to an anniversary schedule, just like for for-hire driver                                 licensing

                         Owners of previously medallions relinquished, revoked, deposited, etc. have one year to                             tell the City and County their plans or the medallion is permanently retired

______________________________________________________________

There you have it, guys and gals, taxi bureaucracy at its finest? or at its very worst?   Only time will tell.  I wish everyone luck with all these changes.  But my final comment is that it would have been much better if the City of Seattle had kept their TNC (Uber & Lyft) Cap in place, and then maybe all you have just read would never have been written, no reason to, no cause.  But welcome to the real taxi world as I know it: the taxi industry gets the shaft right up the you-know-where! shaved to the bone grizzly bear!

PS: Editor Note---For some reason, the "Page Two" section has decided to diagram some of its sentences like they were written by that Beat-era poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.  Crazee, man, crazee! Ain't it cool!  I recommend highly his volume of verse "Coney Island of the Mind."  

Just noticed it also happened on page one.  Oh well, ain't it swell?  No.

 

A Final Assessment Of Seattle/King County's Taxi Industry: Failure And Delusion & Falling Upon The Sword: My Last Failed Attempt Of Taxi Advocacy & Remembering A Terrible 2018 Taxi Accident

STITA Closes it's Office

The departure of that once mighty group of Sea-Tac cabbies says everything about what is currently the awful state of affairs that is Seattle & King County taxi.  In short, it is abysmal.  Orange Cab is gone.  Farwest has 20 working cabs.  Yellow is operating with about 250 taxis.  The only bright spot, if there is one, are the 400 plus cabs working Sea-Tac International Airport but even they are fading due to the head-to-head competition from Uber and Lyft.  Though they are cheaper than the TNC companies, most of the arriving passengers don't know it, taking Uber and Lyft as a matter of habit.  

In a last conversation with Puget Sound Dispatch's (Seattle Yellow Cab) General Manager, I found his protestations about current business trends to be unrealistic, not based on what I have seen first hand as a front-line owner/operator.  A few months earlier, in a discussion about pick-up times, he said the average wait time was 11 minutes.  10 years ago, yes, that was true at times but not now, not at all, especially outside of downtown and late at night.  Denial has been, and is the taxi industry's death knell, and so in that sense, the bells are ringing, hearses, not taxicabs lining up to haul away the dead.  It is a bad situation.  The vultures are circling.   And that's the way it is, Seattle-style taxicab 2023. 

The Judge was Disingenuous 

Finally I got my in-person court date concerning the four bus lane violations I was questioning.  In a last desperate attempt at taxi advocacy I refused the first offer of reduced fines, understanding that I might end up paying the full amount for all four tickets.  I did this because I wanted to have my say, pointing out how poor the signage is, suggesting it might be a kind of entrapment but no one, especially the judge, heeding my arguments.  After getting my butt kicked over the first violation, I acquiesced and took a reduction for the final three, understanding how farcical my effort was, defeated before I started.  Have I learned my lesson?  Yes, I certainly have.    

Remembering the horrible cab accident of September 13th, 2018

Yesterday I encountered the former Yellow cabbie who survived an awful head-on collision with a wrong way driver at North 155th & Aurora Ave. North in 2018.  His passenger, a 62 year-old woman, was killed.  He was hospitalized for 7 months.  The 21 year-old kid driving the big American car wasn't insured.  I have looked up the photos of the accident and the cab was demolished.  I don't know if the kid was charged with manslaughter or some other such serious charge.  The former driver recognized me first, remembering my past efforts toward the industry. "You were our leader," he said, which was nice to hear but shouldn't he have had more coverage and protection at the moment his car was struck?  Why yes, and even though I cared, my concern wasn't enough to bring about the changes our industry required.  The man is very lucky to be alive, and walking.  Screw taxi!

Adios Taxi! At The Very Least It Has Been Interesting If Not A Bit Maddening & My Last Taxi Night Ride To Mount Vernon, Washington

Logging Out One Final Time 10:51 PM, Saturday February 25th, 2023

Yes, its goodbye to taxi, a journey begun on a mid-September weekend in 1987.  Of course I didn't know it would last this long, never conceiving such an outcome but maybe I just wasn't reading the taxi tea leaves properly.  On my very first day I rolled $150.00 in 11 hours driving a non-dispatched cab, having very little idea nor clue what I was doing.  After that, I was told "no split sheet" for me, just the ordinary lease (nut).  Within two months I was nicknamed the "Vacuum Cleaner" for my ability to "vacuum up the fares," and again, minus any dispatch.  

Obviously then I held a natural talent  or propensity for something I knew little to nothing about.  I did know the City of Seattle to a reasonable degree, and King County to a smaller extent, so that clearly assisted in making money, the downtown streets and hotels not a complete mystery.   I also paid strict attention to potential money making scenarios like sporting events, music festivals and downtown business conventions.  I made lots of money working the University of Washington football games.  

Merely working the weekends, I found I was "rolling in the dough," happy enough while unhappily transitioning from marriage to divorce, taxi occupying my mind during this unfortunate time.  One thing I did notice right away were the parallels of navigating from crazy to crazy, from my case managing gig to sitting beneath the toplight, both embracing deranged realities the general public knew little nor cared much about.  

In that sense, I was home in each environment, madness the prevailing theme whether talking and relating to doctors or drug dealers.  It was all nuts, and later I would say, "Welcome to taxi as I know and hate  (and love) it!" something true to my very last minute, taxi a rolling asylum, a mobile psychiatric ward.  You want crazy?  Drive a cab!

Maybe one day I will write a history of my cab years, spotlighting the various phases I and the local industry went through but instead of that opus magus I will quickly outline various achievements and highlights during my active years of lobbying and advocacy on behalf of my fellow cabbies.   One reason I failed to radically change our industry was the inherent dysfunction of both the associations and the governing regulators, neither fully grasping what we needed to be successful.  Again, going into detail would require a book but at this point do I really care, and frankly I don't, because who really cares about the cab industry?  Basically, no one.

My biggest gain for the Washington State taxi industry was convincing the WA State Department of Labor and Industry to cut in half their monetary request, with me estimating I saved everyone millions, or was it tens of millions of dollars?  In small recognition, the Yellow BYG co-op gave me a $1,500 tip.  

Beyond that victory, it was mostly shouting into the wind, years thrown away while achieving little to nothing.  As the nominal leader of the Green Cab fight against King County, and the appointed president of something called  "The Alliance of Taxi Associations," all we managed to do was toss away over $100,000 while getting nothing for it.  That was dispiriting.

My two years on the Seattle & King County Taxi Advisory Commission was a joke, truly sadly comical, a farce.   Yes, I was Chair (person) that second year but no one in City or County government was interested in what we or I had to say.  And worse, we had some very unhelpful members who screwed up the proceedings, making me wonder if they weren't on someone's payroll.  Pathetic is the best description for all those wasted meetings.  Though I liked our King County moderator, Jodie.  She was great, a real professional who didn't have to say what we both knew: the commission was a fiasco.

For years, I also attended Craig Leisy's TAG (Taxi Advisory Group) meetings, fun because they were located way, way up in the municipal tower, providing a great view of the city to the west.   More social gathering that anything else, I sometimes had to endure the wrath of Frank Dogwilla, the US submarine Navy commander turned BYG General Manager.  And to think I turned down the US Navy's offer to make me an officer.  Hey, I could have turned into another Frank.  No thanks!

There was also my two years spent battling Uber's incursion, attending countless City Council meetings, with it all ending up into our local demise.   I was intimately involved in the fight, telling BYG we had to sue the City of Seattle or we were done for.  Of course, none of the fools listened to me, and we all know what happened.  Uber won and taxi is a sinking ship.

One last effort was when I was hired to save what was left of the co-op after it left Hudson Street and moved over to Meyers Way.  Not really wanting to do it because I knew it was like trying to put a house fire out with a garden hose, I nonetheless agreed to take $4000.00 a month and attempt to work a miracle but no, Lema said, you'll be getting $2500.00 instead.  That's when I said "hell no!" and soon thereafter, the once proud BYG co-op sank into the taxi sunset.  

And that's the story, morning glory!

Last Day, Big Ride

I am guessing that the local taxi gods decided to be kind on my last day, Saturday February 25th, 2023, by providing me a final decent run but it almost didn't happen, or probably should not have happened due to potentially three fatal mistakes made by dispatch.  Getting the call at 6:00 PM, it was instead scheduled for 7:00 PM.  I was given a pickup address of 705 East Pike when the actual address was 705 Pike.  And the destination provided was Tacoma but of course the passenger was heading north, not south, to Mount Vernon.   That was fun.  $170.00 a bit of a cherry on top.

My last fare of the night was a no-show, double-belled call in the Fremont.  Having enough of that, I logged out at 10:51 PM, saying a final goodbye to 35 plus years.  

Goodbye, taxi, goodbye!  No I don't need a poke in the eye!  Or further occupation in the pig sty!

Goodbye!