The Airport Golden Goose is not so Golden
In a recent Puget Sound Dispatch (Yellow Cab) newsletter, some Seattle Yellow cab drivers working the airport were admonished for being creative with the rates, inventing surcharges that don't exist. Crazy but the plausible explanation is anger at being limited at what they can charge while Uber and Lyft can double the going rate to downtown minus a murmur of comment or objection from the City of Seattle, King County or the Port of Seattle. Obviously the Sea-Tac cabbies feel maltreated, and who can really argue with them about the treatment dished out by the regulatory authorities.
Back in 2014 Uber and Lyft had their cap numbers lifted, and within a year we had over 28,000 TNC operators vs a more or less 1500 cabs. And I as have reported, the State of Washington passed a package of support for the TNC operators, including rate increases.
What has the local taxi industry received from the State of Washington? Why nothing at all which explains the resentful behavior exhibited by the Sea-Tac cabbies. Is help and protection and assistance coming any time soon? Of course not. And that guys and dolls, is the entire story.
A New City of Seattle Medallion Website?
Through publication in the PSD newsletter, the City acknowledged that late night demand is outstripping coverage, and in response is considering a City-based website where local cab owners can sell their unwanted taxi medallions. I hope it happens soon because coverage is at times quite awful. Friday afternoon, at about 5:00 PM, I was belled into the Edgewater Hotel and found two separate Sea-Tac fares waiting, one had already waited one hour, and the other guy 30 minutes. Both got in my cab and I think I got them to the airport in time to catch their flights. It was heavy rush hour traffic but still I was there in 20 minutes. Help! We need more cabs.
Almost No Women are Driving Taxis in Seattle
A recent Seattle Times article concerning gender disparity in local occupations displayed what has become too obvious: there are maybe two women driving taxi now in Seattle and King County. And who can blame them, clear targets for any fool out there. I have been groped and grabbed more times than I can remember by both men and women but dogs jumping on my lap searching for a snack are okay. Where is our complaint line? Can we call the groper's mother and tell them what their son or daughter has just done to us in our cab?
42,915 USA Traffic Deaths in 2021
Yes, that is a 16-year high, up 10.5% from 2020 when 38,824 died from automobile accidents. The figure will probably be revised upward. What is the average speed on I-5 within Seattle? 70-80 miles per hour. The only time I see the Washington State Patrol is when when are at the aftermath of an accident, WSP enforcement spotty at best.
PS 05/24/22, 5:21 PM: This morning, at 5:00 AM, on I-5 southbound, a two car accident occurred on the Ship Canal Bridge, closing the southbound freeway for three hours. What makes this most unusual is that one of the involved drivers fell off of the roadway to the water many feet below, which is why I am mentioning it. The accident was caused by a DUI driver hitting a stalled car in the middle lane. Further investigation found that the driver of the stalled vehicle was struck by his own car and ejected over the railing to his death. His body has been recovered from the canal by divers. The DUI driver has been charged with homicide.
It has become very dangerous, driving America's roads. Be careful.
Slate Online Article: Uber Customers are Paying a lot more $$$$$
In a story talking about increased Uber rates, in the past six months, they have gone up 45-90 percent according to two somewhat competing reports. Passengers are complaining about it to me but what can we do, we don't have enough cabs to properly cover the business we have. I found a gentleman, a regular customer, waiting at a Safeway upon a Saturday afternoon nearly three hours before I took him and his groceries home, 12:30-3:30 PM. It would be a great time for an advertising campaign but "no way Jose" can we do it now.
My First New Camera Ticket
I got nicked $75.00 for being in the wrong lane on South-bound 99 at Galer Street. The trap is simple. The enforcement in confined to one lane both North and South of Galer. The warning sign is small, blending into the background. If this ain't entrapment I don't know the definition.
I Have Lost my Bloody Mind!
It's true, I have reached my limit is appears, especially when I have reached exhaustion in the cab and no longer interested in tolerating insulting and stupid behaviors. No, I am not dishonest or a thief. Yes, I know the streets and routes better than you ever will. And screw you, do have have to treat me and every other cabbie like shit and feel justified doing it?
With a certain kind of customer, the derogatory behavior never ends. I am not a human punching bag. When not being disrespected, I can give you a great ride to where ever it is you are going. Disrespect me, everything stops. I will not be beat up mentally solely because someone thinks they can. Well, they can't and that is the end of that story.
Handing Out Masks Like Hotcakes
No, I am not cooking breakfast in the cab, only trying to keep myself and my dumbbell passengers alive. I have a box of masks and the car doesn't move until your mask is on. The older Florida couple, though reluctant, put on the mask given to them but once we reached the airport I saw that the husband had dropped his mask onto the roadway. Thanks, A-Hole, for the gratitude! Governor DeSantis would be proud.
One million Americans dead from COVID-19. Hey idiots, it ain't over!
Typical Government bureaucracy being reactive only long after it was too late. Not when medical patients were waiting hours for trips to their important appointments and surgeries. Or after.
ReplyDeleteWhy it took these clowns this long to make this public, and even driver boards where owners and drivers can put ads up for cars available or wanted. Everything with taxi is word of mouth only and closely guarded, hidden in different ethnic and religious communities. All looking after themselves and their own peoples first.
They pointlessly let all these owners hold onto the medallions for the small hope they will come back and payback their missed renewal fees. All due to greed and incompetence.
Not only should these listing be public, but all taxi's should be required to be in an association with an actual working dispatch office and not just a fake non-working number on the side like the completely useless One Taxi & One for Hire, United for Hire, and Orange if there are even any active drivers with active medallions.
And then the next step is require all cabs be active 24 hours a day with at least 2 drivers & shifts. What good is 700 active taxis in the whole City & County (if there are even that much now) if 270-400 lazily only sit at the Airport all day & only take a waiting Airport trip in front of their eyes on the way back & nothing else? Leaving only 300 max to service nearly 2,500 square miles by themselves usually only from 4am to only 4pm on the weekdays mostly.
How many active drivers does Yellow even have now?? I have heard from many drivers who are desperate to get on with Yellow or find cars to lease only to complain if the complete indifference by office employees to helping them and expanding the fleet. All they care about is charging even more for dispatch, and an extra fee for the data plan for the driver tablets.
The City & County offices need to crackdown and monitor the Associations just as much as they pointlessly harass drivers and owne/operators.
But they do jack to them, and leave them to be as lazy & greedy as they can be while collecting their dispatch and doing little to nothing for drivers with it. No advertising, no new contracts to keep 1,500 taxis busy 24 hours a day, nothing. Just sitting back collecting dispatch, putting it into Association owners pockets, and losing bits and pieces of their little business like school runs & Hopelink & other calls daily to new app companies, medical transport services, & Lyft and Uber of course. Enough is enough.
And taxi's will continue to infuriate customers and potential customers as long as 90% of owners and drivers only will accept cash payments, all of us in the industry & even local regulatory authorities knowing exactly why. It's all a giant scam from top to bottom, leaving the perfect storm for Lyft & Uber to nearly completely demolish the Neverending bulls**t of the taxi industry. Why they continue to completely rely on these same individuals who will never change their ways, or take their medallions from them like true Regulators should for companies with constant violations is beyond inexplicable.
ReplyDeleteAnd another giant nagging question and problem is why does the Port of Seattle & SeaTac Airport still require a contract for exclusive access to the Airport, robbing the County and City of much needed transportation options so that drivers can sit there for hours and greedily pocket all the revenues from the Airport rides themselves. Greed is the answer to all this dysfunction and corruption.
Lyft & Uber have shown there is constant revenue opportunities all around the County and City 24/7, all sorts of trips put there waiting for the driven driver. Yet lazy & simple minded taxi owners/drivers would rather sit around the Airport Lot playing ping pong, chit chatting, and horsing around like they're children at camp, and not grown men having to actually earn an actual living for themselves and their families. No, we know who's actually doing that, and it's not them themselves.