According to a Forbes Magazine article dated December 14th, 2017, two amazing facts screamed out at me, underlining what I have been both thinking and saying: despite all their investment money, something in the range of 70 billion dollars, Uber may not survive. Forbes tells us that in its seven year history, it has yet to show all those investors one penny of profit. And in 2017, to the point that the article was written, Uber had already lost 3.2 billion dollars. And further updating the misery, on February 14th 2018, CNBC said Uber's 2017 losses increased by 61 percent, resulting in a total loss 2017 loss of 4.5 billion. The question obviously is, how is this sustainable, and like a comatose patient, when will the plug be pulled?
While there have been some investor grumbling, like Benchmark Capital's August 2017 fraud lawsuit against Uber and its founder, Travis Kalanick, there still appears to be some optimism left evidenced by the December 2017 move by Softbank (a Japanese multinational conglomerate) to take a 14% stake in Uber, thus making Kalanick an instant billionaire. Again my question is, what will it ultimately take for the majority of Uber investors to suddenly realize that what they invested their money in is just a more transparent Ponzi scheme, where the illusion of profit exists solely to own their financial miscalculations because, while Uber is bringing in money, will it ever be enough to be profitable?
Hopefully I don't have to remind anyone about the recent Bernie Madoff and his defrauding of everyone within his investor circle? While Madoff clearly was a compete liar, is Uber any more truthful by insisting that billions of small operator fares annually will not only pay back all inventor capital but also provide a tidy profit? Is this "Alice in Wonderland" all over again? Maybe.
Glancing online at various reports, it seems that Uber, at least recently, 2017 greater losses not withstanding, has been losing 2 billion dollars annually. Adding it all up, including 2017, and we see a potential total loss of 16.5 billion dollars. Subtract 16.5 from 70 billion and you get a total of 53.5 and lot of investor money down the financial drain. While income does offset some of the loss, it remains a sorry situation for those interested in faster and more guaranteed gains.
Another puzzling factor is Uber's overhead and just what is bleeding them financially? Looking it up, I find costs for lobbying, lawyers, driver acquisition and on-boarding, which I assume means app costs. How this all adds up to 2 billion in losses yearly I don't understand which bring me back to my Ponzi scheme. Maybe its true that you just can't make a profit constantly undercutting your competitors, and getting back to hypotheticals, the ability to make this a sustainable economic model is purely a pipe dream and nothing else.
One article I saw said that Uber felt its true and ultimate profitability will come from self-driving cars. If that is true then Uber might want to rethink that notion because yesterday in Tempe, Arizona one of their autonomous vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian. And this occurred even though it had a driver on board.
After reading 3 different articles about the accident, a fourth one I discovered in the NY Times related that the State of Arizona had told all those makers of autonomous cars that they will remain totally free from state regulations, an assurance leading to a flood of autonomous road trials. That fact alone should give anyone crossing a street in Phoenix or Tucson or Tempe pause because the state is now allowing completely driverless cars to be used in the developmental process thus transforming the average Arizona citizen into an experimental laboratory rat.
This is good governance? Perhaps not but it shows the kind of deference Uber is provided. Maybe soon everyone one will stop kissing innocent little Uber on the forehead and instead issue a good smack to the buttock. Remember that age old adage, "spare the rod and spoil the child?" It certainly looks like it might apply to the petulant Uber, puckering its lips and sticking out a nasty tongue.
And if this is what its like in Uber's childhood, how is it going to act during its adolescent years? Run for the "financial" hills, everybody!
Postscript March 21st, 2018 Wednesday
Reading the March 20th LA Times article online (written by Russ Mitchell) concerning the Tempe, AZ death of Elaine Herzberg caused by Uber's robot-car, I found the late 2016 quote by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to be telling:
"Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide open roads. While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses."
"Monday, the governor's office expressed condolences for Herzberg's family and said "public safety is our top priority"
For the record, the reason why the State of CA stopped Uber from testing was due to, one, Uber never having applied for the proper permits and two, that one of their driverless cars was involved in a rollover accident.
I for one would not invest into Uber. Might be a bad idea.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
5000 Miles & All He Was Wearing & I Get A Complaint
Sometimes I forget just how miles I drive in a given year but since I put on new tires once back from Europe, I now know minus all doubt that in one solitary month I drove 5000 plus miles which says to me everything I don't want to know about cab driving. Too many times I have said to anyone within hearing distance that everything involved with taxi is fatigued---the driver, the car, the dispatch, you name it---every moving part including the cabbie subjected to unusual wear and tear grinding our entire operation down to bare fiber and taxi bone, with the ultimate cost both physical and financial, killing the soul and destroying the bank account. No fun, no fun I keep repeating, and until I finally remove myself from this insane business I must again say, this isn't any fun!
Black Shorts, Black T-Shirt & Bedroom Slippers
My taxi credo is "I'll stop for anybody!" and that was certainly the case last week driving northbound downtown on 4th Avenue near James Street when I saw a middle-aged man waving dressed like it was August and not the first week in wintery March. His story, and certainly a sad one, was that he had just been released uncharged from the King County jail after being held for two days. And the reason for his temporary incarceration?
Sunday night, while both he and the wife were hitting the bottle, they began arguing over how their tax refund was spent, given his understanding of what they had agreed to was different from what actually occurred. Off he went to bed only to be awakened at two in the morning by the local police who swept him off to jail minus his clothes, telephone and wallet, they responding to the wife's "whiskey and marijuana" addled call.
Originally telling me he was heading home to Bothell, he decided to instead detour to his sister's house, given he had no real idea what fate awaited him upon his arrival home. I agreed that was the best course, and once I had $30.00 in hand courtesy of his sister I wished him luck because it seemed that he needed it, that and perhaps a divorce lawyer.
Ridiculous
Finally I might have learned my lesson about treating troubled or disadvantaged passengers as normal, as regular people as opposed to how both they are usually treated, and worse, how they view themselves and their life situation. Picking the woman up at a Seattle Housing Authority building, the same kind of housing my late mother resided for over twenty-one years, she was on her way to some kind resident input meeting sponsored by SHA. My mistake again was responding to her as someone who, at least theoretically, was someone deemed capable in assisting with resident concerns, meaning we could have an actual lucid conversation about what SHA was doing or not. Making a joke at the end, she somehow took it to imply that I was not an honest cabbie, prompting her to say that to whoever was at the meeting who in turn called Yellow. Given that I thought I had already learned this years ago, I was mad at myself for not remembering an object lesson dating back to 1975 and my first psychiatric job: that due to past damage, some folks, not feeling equal, were going to try to hurt me regardless of how I treated them. It something I will include in my upcoming taxi correspondence course series, something I might term "the fine art of passenger relations" because it is an art, relating properly to as many different kinds of people as there are upon the planet. As I say, I meet everybody, and once again I am reminded of that. Am I naive? No. Am I dumb? Yes, yes I am dumb.
Black Shorts, Black T-Shirt & Bedroom Slippers
My taxi credo is "I'll stop for anybody!" and that was certainly the case last week driving northbound downtown on 4th Avenue near James Street when I saw a middle-aged man waving dressed like it was August and not the first week in wintery March. His story, and certainly a sad one, was that he had just been released uncharged from the King County jail after being held for two days. And the reason for his temporary incarceration?
Sunday night, while both he and the wife were hitting the bottle, they began arguing over how their tax refund was spent, given his understanding of what they had agreed to was different from what actually occurred. Off he went to bed only to be awakened at two in the morning by the local police who swept him off to jail minus his clothes, telephone and wallet, they responding to the wife's "whiskey and marijuana" addled call.
Originally telling me he was heading home to Bothell, he decided to instead detour to his sister's house, given he had no real idea what fate awaited him upon his arrival home. I agreed that was the best course, and once I had $30.00 in hand courtesy of his sister I wished him luck because it seemed that he needed it, that and perhaps a divorce lawyer.
Ridiculous
Finally I might have learned my lesson about treating troubled or disadvantaged passengers as normal, as regular people as opposed to how both they are usually treated, and worse, how they view themselves and their life situation. Picking the woman up at a Seattle Housing Authority building, the same kind of housing my late mother resided for over twenty-one years, she was on her way to some kind resident input meeting sponsored by SHA. My mistake again was responding to her as someone who, at least theoretically, was someone deemed capable in assisting with resident concerns, meaning we could have an actual lucid conversation about what SHA was doing or not. Making a joke at the end, she somehow took it to imply that I was not an honest cabbie, prompting her to say that to whoever was at the meeting who in turn called Yellow. Given that I thought I had already learned this years ago, I was mad at myself for not remembering an object lesson dating back to 1975 and my first psychiatric job: that due to past damage, some folks, not feeling equal, were going to try to hurt me regardless of how I treated them. It something I will include in my upcoming taxi correspondence course series, something I might term "the fine art of passenger relations" because it is an art, relating properly to as many different kinds of people as there are upon the planet. As I say, I meet everybody, and once again I am reminded of that. Am I naive? No. Am I dumb? Yes, yes I am dumb.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Who Knew That We Have 57,000 Uber & Lyft Operators in Seattle & King County?
A local taxi lobbyist told me something I still have trouble believing---that there are over 57,000 Uber and Lyft independent contractors in Seattle and King County. But despite my incredulity I know she is accurate, meaning I have been under estimating the total TNC driver count by 37,000. Upon the subject of all things Uber I never have thought myself naive but guess what, never imagining this many drivers overwhelming our transportation market. It certainly could be called many things but nonsensical is my first thought, all these operators plying a population one tenth the size of New York City. Crazy, man, crazy!
And why do we have so many TNC (Uber & Lyft) operators? Gullibility must be the answer, with too many buying into Uber's rhetoric that "you too can earn all this great money!" just by working a few hours in your spare time. Unfortunately for all those who took the bait, according to a new MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) study, the majority are averaging $3.73 per hour after all overhead expenses are factored in, meaning that many drivers might actually be operating at a deficit, literally paying for the privilege to work and earn nothing whatsoever. And even worse, one commenter said he thinks that some of the drivers "don't know!" that they aren't making anything. Amazing and sad and stupid.
Yes very scary if the MIT study is correct, painting a scenario of something that shouldn't exist except it does, making it difficult on all of us connected to passenger carrying related businesses. And just like talking to a "born again"Christian, how can you convince the "true Uber believer" that their God is an illusion, and their version of "financial heaven" is the stuff of mythology? Difficult and perhaps impossible after the typical $15,000-20,000 investment is made to buy the car and now finding themselves accelerating down "dreamland's" highway, however nightmarish their drive might ultimately be.
That we went from a capped total of 500 Uber and Lyft vehicles to 57,000 says everything that can be said about local government and their decisions concerning the local taxi industry. And yes, they are going ahead and adding 55 more taxis to our already suffering fleet. Maybe their philosophy is "the more the merrier" but despite all initial cheering it soon will be "crying time again!" and next winter all the new owners will be cursing what was once, at least they thought, their good fortune. Oh well, don't we all enjoy sharing a living hell? The answer is no we don't, not at all.
A Bit of Levity
Today talking to "she who can't be named," she said that "$180.00 a week" is too much money, referring to the weekly dispatch fee all of us pay to Yellow Cab. And of course it is and it is truly a shame that she is down in Arcata, California because there would be "hell to pay" if I took her down to the business office and set her loose upon the office staff. I guarantee her wrath would be unforgettable, the stuff of legend, finding myself still laughing at the memory of her routing the five cowboys we encountered in Bismark, North Dakota during a 1992 cross-country journey. That was funny, a potential dangerous scenario morphing into the comedic.
And why do we have so many TNC (Uber & Lyft) operators? Gullibility must be the answer, with too many buying into Uber's rhetoric that "you too can earn all this great money!" just by working a few hours in your spare time. Unfortunately for all those who took the bait, according to a new MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) study, the majority are averaging $3.73 per hour after all overhead expenses are factored in, meaning that many drivers might actually be operating at a deficit, literally paying for the privilege to work and earn nothing whatsoever. And even worse, one commenter said he thinks that some of the drivers "don't know!" that they aren't making anything. Amazing and sad and stupid.
Yes very scary if the MIT study is correct, painting a scenario of something that shouldn't exist except it does, making it difficult on all of us connected to passenger carrying related businesses. And just like talking to a "born again"Christian, how can you convince the "true Uber believer" that their God is an illusion, and their version of "financial heaven" is the stuff of mythology? Difficult and perhaps impossible after the typical $15,000-20,000 investment is made to buy the car and now finding themselves accelerating down "dreamland's" highway, however nightmarish their drive might ultimately be.
That we went from a capped total of 500 Uber and Lyft vehicles to 57,000 says everything that can be said about local government and their decisions concerning the local taxi industry. And yes, they are going ahead and adding 55 more taxis to our already suffering fleet. Maybe their philosophy is "the more the merrier" but despite all initial cheering it soon will be "crying time again!" and next winter all the new owners will be cursing what was once, at least they thought, their good fortune. Oh well, don't we all enjoy sharing a living hell? The answer is no we don't, not at all.
A Bit of Levity
Today talking to "she who can't be named," she said that "$180.00 a week" is too much money, referring to the weekly dispatch fee all of us pay to Yellow Cab. And of course it is and it is truly a shame that she is down in Arcata, California because there would be "hell to pay" if I took her down to the business office and set her loose upon the office staff. I guarantee her wrath would be unforgettable, the stuff of legend, finding myself still laughing at the memory of her routing the five cowboys we encountered in Bismark, North Dakota during a 1992 cross-country journey. That was funny, a potential dangerous scenario morphing into the comedic.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Taxi Doggerel---Swallowed Whole By Taxi
If anyone isn't getting the message concerning the taxi "death-style" or "imitating life while you are dying" I give everyone an alternative venue, the doggerel poem that isn't meant to be serious yet is, sugarcoated medicine for those not adverse to poetical style gone amok, feathers flying from the mallard duck, where meaning is whimsical so any and all comprehension is just "good luck!"
Swallowed Whole By Taxi
It's a python squeeze if you don't please
going down the gullet
and certainly you can't breath as you
inhale
the toxic living hell
that is seven days a week living eating sleeping cab
residing in a volatile experimental lab-
oratory minus all glory
and now worse
not even making any money
Uber and Lyft
those damn busy bees laughing
living a life of passenger milk and honey
and no it ain't funny
residing in the stomach of a cold, cold snake
digesting all us cabbies
bit by bit
bite by bite
that serpent's smile
a shining top-light
this hungry reptile happy we've stopped struggling
giving up the fight
fading fading fading
into the night
permanently
out of mind
out of slight.
________________________________________________________________________________
If you can understand it, it's all true, it's no fun, taxi on the run, and the City of Seattle, those regulatory jesters, wanting to weight us down further as we sink, sink deeper into taxi nothingness
where hope is loss, where fatigue and misery is boss, and the Bureaucratic Devil says buy that cab, go into debt and work, work till you want to die, then embrace that death and be happy for now you can rest even if your family can't.
More Plainly Speaking
Okay, minus the poetic fun and games is the unmistakable reality that during certain seasons, months and hours driving and owning a cab in Seattle and King County is not sustainable, it just isn't, and pretending otherwise is pure foolishness and little else. To add fifty-five more cabs to an already meager work environment is nonsensical. Yes, almost any lease driver will say they want to own a cab but the question arises do they truly understand what they are requesting? I say they don't, and while respecting the desire to be free of an association or a single owner, few recognize the inherent bondage that comes with owning a small business. Yes, Spring and especially Summer will bring millions of visitors to Seattle and the State of Washington, allowing for easier and more profitable days but now, in late February business remains as bare as the frozen branches shaking in the frigid wind. Yes, just like the this month's early cherry blossoms, business does occasionally bloom but certainly not festooning everyone's pocketbooks, flowering the taxi day.
Standing around last night at Pier 69 waiting for the Victoria Clipper, I gave a quick tutorial to how we got to where we have, this in response to a statement that the new medallions were inevitable because a ruling had been made and must be followed. In response I said "that isn't at all true!" recounting how the Seattle City Council first proudly capped Uber and Lyft at 250 cars each but then, upon Mayor Murray's intervention, quickly threw out their law thus providing the reality we now all suffer under. 14,000 plus Uber and Lyft operators later, our City plates are now worth perhaps $10,000, down from a pre-Uber high of $250,000.
As I told my audience of two, the City has done, and will do whatever they want. If they want to stop the release of the new medallions, they will, plain and simple. As I keep saying, isn't it time for commonsense governance? The answer is obvious, isn't it?
Swallowed Whole By Taxi
It's a python squeeze if you don't please
going down the gullet
and certainly you can't breath as you
inhale
the toxic living hell
that is seven days a week living eating sleeping cab
residing in a volatile experimental lab-
oratory minus all glory
and now worse
not even making any money
Uber and Lyft
those damn busy bees laughing
living a life of passenger milk and honey
and no it ain't funny
residing in the stomach of a cold, cold snake
digesting all us cabbies
bit by bit
bite by bite
that serpent's smile
a shining top-light
this hungry reptile happy we've stopped struggling
giving up the fight
fading fading fading
into the night
permanently
out of mind
out of slight.
________________________________________________________________________________
If you can understand it, it's all true, it's no fun, taxi on the run, and the City of Seattle, those regulatory jesters, wanting to weight us down further as we sink, sink deeper into taxi nothingness
where hope is loss, where fatigue and misery is boss, and the Bureaucratic Devil says buy that cab, go into debt and work, work till you want to die, then embrace that death and be happy for now you can rest even if your family can't.
More Plainly Speaking
Okay, minus the poetic fun and games is the unmistakable reality that during certain seasons, months and hours driving and owning a cab in Seattle and King County is not sustainable, it just isn't, and pretending otherwise is pure foolishness and little else. To add fifty-five more cabs to an already meager work environment is nonsensical. Yes, almost any lease driver will say they want to own a cab but the question arises do they truly understand what they are requesting? I say they don't, and while respecting the desire to be free of an association or a single owner, few recognize the inherent bondage that comes with owning a small business. Yes, Spring and especially Summer will bring millions of visitors to Seattle and the State of Washington, allowing for easier and more profitable days but now, in late February business remains as bare as the frozen branches shaking in the frigid wind. Yes, just like the this month's early cherry blossoms, business does occasionally bloom but certainly not festooning everyone's pocketbooks, flowering the taxi day.
Standing around last night at Pier 69 waiting for the Victoria Clipper, I gave a quick tutorial to how we got to where we have, this in response to a statement that the new medallions were inevitable because a ruling had been made and must be followed. In response I said "that isn't at all true!" recounting how the Seattle City Council first proudly capped Uber and Lyft at 250 cars each but then, upon Mayor Murray's intervention, quickly threw out their law thus providing the reality we now all suffer under. 14,000 plus Uber and Lyft operators later, our City plates are now worth perhaps $10,000, down from a pre-Uber high of $250,000.
As I told my audience of two, the City has done, and will do whatever they want. If they want to stop the release of the new medallions, they will, plain and simple. As I keep saying, isn't it time for commonsense governance? The answer is obvious, isn't it?
Sunday, February 18, 2018
I Want To Know Why Seattle's Department of Licensing Believes The Local Taxi Industry Requires 55 Additional Taxis
Within the next few weeks the City of Seattle will once again hold a medallion lottery for fifty-five City-only plates we do not need. As I have mentioned in the past, when taxis were the only transportation option in Seattle and King County, did the Department of Licensing authorize more licenses when we truly needed them? No, despite our constant urging and nagging (and begging), the City of Seattle remained unmoved by our pleadings. No, they they repeatedly said, we are not going to do it.
Finally, after much lobbying, the Seattle City Council expanded the number of potential licenses by, if I remember, two-three hundred but still that didn't mean they were released. No, what happened instead was they waited until our market was saturated by 14-18 thousand Uber and Lyft operators, plus an additional 2-3 thousand other assorted quasi-taxis to begin adding to the local taxi fleet. Why they did this, and continue along this track is anyone's guess.
Logic says this doesn't make any sense but after observing Seattle and King County taxi regulators over the past 30 years its clear logic is not their guiding beacon. But just what is their primary motivation for doing what they do remains mysterious unless it is a kind of sadism because currently the majority of the taxi drivers are sitting in place doing nothing whatsoever save going crazy. As I keep repeating, we are not having any fun.
In a response to my email, John Megow, Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection Manager for Seattle's Department of Licensing said all they were doing was implementing a 2014 authorization releasing 200 medallions, and besides, he told me, he had feedback from many drivers eagerly awaiting their opportunity to become a taxicab owner. In other words, the malnourished are starving and Seattle will mimic the Old Testament gods and provide licensing manna from taxi bureaucratic heavens.
While what Mr. Megow said is true, it doesn't mean that the decision shouldn't be revisited because our business model is broken and when will it ever be mended and repaired? The sorry answer is never, never will the taxi business in Seattle and the United States in general return to its previous profitability. In Europe, and in cities like Reykjavik and Paris, their taxi industry is striving but in the good old USA the reverse is true. So why add more misery to an already horrible situation, 55 new cabs meaning one thing only, that being a further dilution of a meager market, making it even harder for everyone to make a living.
Certainly statistically there's no justification for medallion expansion, as our local industry profitability three years ago was reduced by over 30 percent, and now I am guessing it is now down to 50 % or less. Last week a New York City livery cabbie killed himself in front of New York's City Hall but not before he had written an eloquent suicide note explaining he had been working 100 hours a week to make what once took 40 hours to earn.
This is our situation here and elsewhere nationwide. All of us our working harder for less money. And believe me, we are not enjoying ourselves. Taxi driving has become a living hell. In a response to John Megow I used one word to describe my experience as a lottery medallion winner: brutal--- meaning I am not having any fun working myself to down to the taxi bone.
The irony concerning ownership is that while business sucks our overhead remains high, the only recent relief coming with a reduction in insurance rates but collision coverage remains prohibitive, so if you have an accident more than likely it means the cab owner will be solely responsible for all related replacement costs. If you own a Prius that could mean somehow you are going to have to suddenly come up with 14-20 thousand dollars. Most owners do not have that kind of money in savings so it all translates into further debt. It is not a pretty picture.
If you win a medallion, this is what you are facing in terms of initial costs. If you buy, like I did a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria you are going to pay anywhere from 2-6 thousand dollars for the car. A Prius will cost you anywhere from 14-20 thousand or more. Painting the car is $500-1000.00. Initial upfront insurance costs are about $1500.00. Meter and computer will set you back $500.00. The annual City of Seattle medallion fee is about $600.00. Your business license is $110.00 I think the State of Washington business license is another $100.00. After all this you soon will find that your car now needs tires and brakes and a new battery, translating into yet another $1000.00.
I promise you this is not an exaggeration. This is my reality, and unless the City of Seattle relents, 55 more innocent taxi souls will be thrown into the fray. And do I need to remind everyone that it was none other than Seattle and King County who created all this by tossing out their 250 car Uber cap and allowing Uber and others to expand and take over our market?
Is this some kind of cruel joke? Yes it is, and of course none of us cabbies are in a good mood. As I pointed out last week, it appears my friend Ali literally worked himself to death. No, none of this is funny. When the City of Seattle goes ahead regardless of my warning that it is a fatal idea, let me be clear, there will be no humor in Seattle Cab-land, mirth being our last emotion concerning the subject.
Postscript 02/17/2018
There is an ongoing local myth that the reason we have no business is because we don't have enough cabs to serve the business as opposed to my contention we have too many taxis at the moment and certainly don't need anymore, making a bad situation worse. What this argument misses is that if we had customers calling none of us would be sitting hours at a time going completely out of our minds.
And as I have said, the costs associated with taxi ownership is high which means the new owners will be forced to work long hours just to cover their overhead in additional to bringing the bread home to the family table. If anyone thinks working seven days a week while averaging 12-15 hours a days is okay then you are insane because it isn't anything anyone should be doing. To make a rhyme out of it, you have no life and will never see your kids nor the wife.
So my suggestion is to embrace reality over mythology, recognizing that we as an industry are in deep trouble, a trouble threatening our very existence. A recent study revealed the amazing fact that even during Uber's "surge" periods, when Uber sometimes charges up to four times or more than standard taxi rates, 6 out of 10 Uber customers still decide to ride with Uber though it is now costing them "a pretty penny!"
Scary, which is why the City of Seattle should cancel the upcoming medallion lottery. Unless of course you believe in fairy tales like so many of my fellow drivers, that somehow God and the City of Seattle are watching over them, blessing their every move. Ha Ha Ha! is all I can say to that! But of course I am not laughing, delirium my current state of mind.
Finally, after much lobbying, the Seattle City Council expanded the number of potential licenses by, if I remember, two-three hundred but still that didn't mean they were released. No, what happened instead was they waited until our market was saturated by 14-18 thousand Uber and Lyft operators, plus an additional 2-3 thousand other assorted quasi-taxis to begin adding to the local taxi fleet. Why they did this, and continue along this track is anyone's guess.
Logic says this doesn't make any sense but after observing Seattle and King County taxi regulators over the past 30 years its clear logic is not their guiding beacon. But just what is their primary motivation for doing what they do remains mysterious unless it is a kind of sadism because currently the majority of the taxi drivers are sitting in place doing nothing whatsoever save going crazy. As I keep repeating, we are not having any fun.
In a response to my email, John Megow, Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection Manager for Seattle's Department of Licensing said all they were doing was implementing a 2014 authorization releasing 200 medallions, and besides, he told me, he had feedback from many drivers eagerly awaiting their opportunity to become a taxicab owner. In other words, the malnourished are starving and Seattle will mimic the Old Testament gods and provide licensing manna from taxi bureaucratic heavens.
While what Mr. Megow said is true, it doesn't mean that the decision shouldn't be revisited because our business model is broken and when will it ever be mended and repaired? The sorry answer is never, never will the taxi business in Seattle and the United States in general return to its previous profitability. In Europe, and in cities like Reykjavik and Paris, their taxi industry is striving but in the good old USA the reverse is true. So why add more misery to an already horrible situation, 55 new cabs meaning one thing only, that being a further dilution of a meager market, making it even harder for everyone to make a living.
Certainly statistically there's no justification for medallion expansion, as our local industry profitability three years ago was reduced by over 30 percent, and now I am guessing it is now down to 50 % or less. Last week a New York City livery cabbie killed himself in front of New York's City Hall but not before he had written an eloquent suicide note explaining he had been working 100 hours a week to make what once took 40 hours to earn.
This is our situation here and elsewhere nationwide. All of us our working harder for less money. And believe me, we are not enjoying ourselves. Taxi driving has become a living hell. In a response to John Megow I used one word to describe my experience as a lottery medallion winner: brutal--- meaning I am not having any fun working myself to down to the taxi bone.
The irony concerning ownership is that while business sucks our overhead remains high, the only recent relief coming with a reduction in insurance rates but collision coverage remains prohibitive, so if you have an accident more than likely it means the cab owner will be solely responsible for all related replacement costs. If you own a Prius that could mean somehow you are going to have to suddenly come up with 14-20 thousand dollars. Most owners do not have that kind of money in savings so it all translates into further debt. It is not a pretty picture.
If you win a medallion, this is what you are facing in terms of initial costs. If you buy, like I did a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria you are going to pay anywhere from 2-6 thousand dollars for the car. A Prius will cost you anywhere from 14-20 thousand or more. Painting the car is $500-1000.00. Initial upfront insurance costs are about $1500.00. Meter and computer will set you back $500.00. The annual City of Seattle medallion fee is about $600.00. Your business license is $110.00 I think the State of Washington business license is another $100.00. After all this you soon will find that your car now needs tires and brakes and a new battery, translating into yet another $1000.00.
I promise you this is not an exaggeration. This is my reality, and unless the City of Seattle relents, 55 more innocent taxi souls will be thrown into the fray. And do I need to remind everyone that it was none other than Seattle and King County who created all this by tossing out their 250 car Uber cap and allowing Uber and others to expand and take over our market?
Is this some kind of cruel joke? Yes it is, and of course none of us cabbies are in a good mood. As I pointed out last week, it appears my friend Ali literally worked himself to death. No, none of this is funny. When the City of Seattle goes ahead regardless of my warning that it is a fatal idea, let me be clear, there will be no humor in Seattle Cab-land, mirth being our last emotion concerning the subject.
Postscript 02/17/2018
There is an ongoing local myth that the reason we have no business is because we don't have enough cabs to serve the business as opposed to my contention we have too many taxis at the moment and certainly don't need anymore, making a bad situation worse. What this argument misses is that if we had customers calling none of us would be sitting hours at a time going completely out of our minds.
And as I have said, the costs associated with taxi ownership is high which means the new owners will be forced to work long hours just to cover their overhead in additional to bringing the bread home to the family table. If anyone thinks working seven days a week while averaging 12-15 hours a days is okay then you are insane because it isn't anything anyone should be doing. To make a rhyme out of it, you have no life and will never see your kids nor the wife.
So my suggestion is to embrace reality over mythology, recognizing that we as an industry are in deep trouble, a trouble threatening our very existence. A recent study revealed the amazing fact that even during Uber's "surge" periods, when Uber sometimes charges up to four times or more than standard taxi rates, 6 out of 10 Uber customers still decide to ride with Uber though it is now costing them "a pretty penny!"
Scary, which is why the City of Seattle should cancel the upcoming medallion lottery. Unless of course you believe in fairy tales like so many of my fellow drivers, that somehow God and the City of Seattle are watching over them, blessing their every move. Ha Ha Ha! is all I can say to that! But of course I am not laughing, delirium my current state of mind.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Ali---RIP! & Two Passenger Profiles & Coming In March, A Taxi Driver Correspondence Course---You Too Can Learn The Craft In Just a Few Easy Lessons!
Saturday I was totally shocked to find that my longtime taxi colleague and friend, Tesfaye (Ali) Mekonene, had died a few days previously. Ali and I shared YC 478 for years and always found time to chat when we saw each other. If I remember correctly, his big house in Burien was fully paid and his children had either graduated from college or were nearing graduation. In any true sense, Ali's life symbolized the ultimate "American Dream," emigrating from a famine ravaged Ethiopia and creating a good and sustainable future for his family.
From what I heard, sometime last week Ali drove his car into a water-filled ditch which resulted in him being taken to the local regional trauma center, Harborview Hospital, whereupon a large benign tumor was discovered pressing against his brain. Requiring immediate surgery, Ali unfortunately failed to recover and passed away at Harborview.
Opinion has it that his then unknown condition caused the accident. A Yellow superintendent told me that a couple weeks ago he received an odd complaint concerning Ali for not proceeding forward after a signal turned green, the passenger having to alert him they were not moving, prompting the theory that the tumor was already clearly having a neurological impact.
Regardless of all conjecture, dying like this is a huge tragedy, something that might suggest just how hard taxi driving is upon body and soul. Unfortunately, given the timing I missed two memorials held for Ali but was able to contribute to the funding effort toward sending him back home. As said, Rest in Peace, Ali, your gentle spirit will be missed.
Two Passenger Profiles
Sylvia---"that coffee sure smells good!"
Sylvia is a three-time-a week kidney dialysis patient who also suffers from long-term schizophrenia, a double whammy no one should have to bear. Residing in an Wallingford-area psychiatric halfway house, I have been transporting the diminutive Sylvia to the Scribner Kidney Center off and on for years, always very careful not to rush her as she has a personal checklist to address before we take off, first asking if the ride is paid for, which it is something she is cautious about. How old she is I don't know but I would say remaining very old fashioned in her style, especially when it comes to fragrance, something usually overwhelming the cab's interior, making me nauseous if I don't open a window.
Thankfully this past Saturday she had neglected to douse herself which probably allowed her to smell the latte I had just purchased. For a moment I thought of buying her a coffee but knowing how unsettling any alternatives are to her regarding both route and routine I decided against it.
But what it did do was inspire me to talk to her normally, and picking a very safe subject, the local car traffic, and I then proceeded to explain as to why it has become so congested. She in turn, for perhaps the first time in many rides, responded rationally, bringing up something from Seattle's past, which seemed to be calming, causing some reflection.
Yes it was a simple moment yet very satisfying, when for just a few flickering seconds the real core Sylvia revealed itself which is why I am writing about it, a remarkable instance in an otherwise mundane taxi morning.
Shirley---"My husband is dead!"
Sure, I remembered her now late husband, having taken them both home shortly before I left for Europe. Now picking her up at the same White Center bar, I find that her husband is now mysteriously dead, having gone out for a walk only to to be found two hours later dead beneath the South Park Bridge from as of yet unknown causes. Shirley was both frantic and anguished, still processing what had happened which was made worse by not knowing, and conceivably never knowing all the details leading to his death. Was he murdered? Did he die from an overdose? Perhaps the autopsy will tell but still she awaits the results.
Shirley, already drunk, and never these current days very steady due to a serious stroke paralyzing her right side, was accomplished that moment by her even drunker daughter, both having been over served at what is rapidly becoming White Center's most notorious drinking establishment. Listening to Shirley's lament as we drove to buy her even more beer, it was clear this death would never leave her.
And further heightening her plight, the house she shares, Shirley residing in the basement, is with a man with a truly frightening demeanor, anger and disdain evidently his favorite emotions, the owner the epitome of what might be truly wrong with America---a self-absorbed selfishness gone berserk.
Pulling away from the driveway, I had to purposely maneuver to avoid the landlord's car, simultaneously driving off in a kind of demented competitive race. As for Shirley I fear what will ultimately befall her. She tells me me the man who was their roommate is now in jail for violating a non-contact order. What that truly means I don't know but her life now is now crisis after crisis somehow muted by an alcoholic haze. Yes, this is Shirley. This is her life!
Paperless Taxi School
Though still working through the details, coming sometime in March will be the first installments of of what I am calling a cab driver (or Uber driver) correspondence course, the subjects ranging from how to learn a city's roadways to proper conduct during a police stop. The goal is simple. Read the lessons, study them, take them to "heart" and voila! you will be on your way to learning the true craft of transporting your fellow humans from point A to B. I envision a minimum of 6-8 blog installments and perhaps more. Tests will also be included, with answers appearing in the next blog. I have always thought that we need is a taxi university and now, more or less, we will have one, and even better, tuition free. And of course you will be rewarded but how will be solely determined by you. I am only the instructor and a tired one at that!
From what I heard, sometime last week Ali drove his car into a water-filled ditch which resulted in him being taken to the local regional trauma center, Harborview Hospital, whereupon a large benign tumor was discovered pressing against his brain. Requiring immediate surgery, Ali unfortunately failed to recover and passed away at Harborview.
Opinion has it that his then unknown condition caused the accident. A Yellow superintendent told me that a couple weeks ago he received an odd complaint concerning Ali for not proceeding forward after a signal turned green, the passenger having to alert him they were not moving, prompting the theory that the tumor was already clearly having a neurological impact.
Regardless of all conjecture, dying like this is a huge tragedy, something that might suggest just how hard taxi driving is upon body and soul. Unfortunately, given the timing I missed two memorials held for Ali but was able to contribute to the funding effort toward sending him back home. As said, Rest in Peace, Ali, your gentle spirit will be missed.
Two Passenger Profiles
Sylvia---"that coffee sure smells good!"
Sylvia is a three-time-a week kidney dialysis patient who also suffers from long-term schizophrenia, a double whammy no one should have to bear. Residing in an Wallingford-area psychiatric halfway house, I have been transporting the diminutive Sylvia to the Scribner Kidney Center off and on for years, always very careful not to rush her as she has a personal checklist to address before we take off, first asking if the ride is paid for, which it is something she is cautious about. How old she is I don't know but I would say remaining very old fashioned in her style, especially when it comes to fragrance, something usually overwhelming the cab's interior, making me nauseous if I don't open a window.
Thankfully this past Saturday she had neglected to douse herself which probably allowed her to smell the latte I had just purchased. For a moment I thought of buying her a coffee but knowing how unsettling any alternatives are to her regarding both route and routine I decided against it.
But what it did do was inspire me to talk to her normally, and picking a very safe subject, the local car traffic, and I then proceeded to explain as to why it has become so congested. She in turn, for perhaps the first time in many rides, responded rationally, bringing up something from Seattle's past, which seemed to be calming, causing some reflection.
Yes it was a simple moment yet very satisfying, when for just a few flickering seconds the real core Sylvia revealed itself which is why I am writing about it, a remarkable instance in an otherwise mundane taxi morning.
Shirley---"My husband is dead!"
Sure, I remembered her now late husband, having taken them both home shortly before I left for Europe. Now picking her up at the same White Center bar, I find that her husband is now mysteriously dead, having gone out for a walk only to to be found two hours later dead beneath the South Park Bridge from as of yet unknown causes. Shirley was both frantic and anguished, still processing what had happened which was made worse by not knowing, and conceivably never knowing all the details leading to his death. Was he murdered? Did he die from an overdose? Perhaps the autopsy will tell but still she awaits the results.
Shirley, already drunk, and never these current days very steady due to a serious stroke paralyzing her right side, was accomplished that moment by her even drunker daughter, both having been over served at what is rapidly becoming White Center's most notorious drinking establishment. Listening to Shirley's lament as we drove to buy her even more beer, it was clear this death would never leave her.
And further heightening her plight, the house she shares, Shirley residing in the basement, is with a man with a truly frightening demeanor, anger and disdain evidently his favorite emotions, the owner the epitome of what might be truly wrong with America---a self-absorbed selfishness gone berserk.
Pulling away from the driveway, I had to purposely maneuver to avoid the landlord's car, simultaneously driving off in a kind of demented competitive race. As for Shirley I fear what will ultimately befall her. She tells me me the man who was their roommate is now in jail for violating a non-contact order. What that truly means I don't know but her life now is now crisis after crisis somehow muted by an alcoholic haze. Yes, this is Shirley. This is her life!
Paperless Taxi School
Though still working through the details, coming sometime in March will be the first installments of of what I am calling a cab driver (or Uber driver) correspondence course, the subjects ranging from how to learn a city's roadways to proper conduct during a police stop. The goal is simple. Read the lessons, study them, take them to "heart" and voila! you will be on your way to learning the true craft of transporting your fellow humans from point A to B. I envision a minimum of 6-8 blog installments and perhaps more. Tests will also be included, with answers appearing in the next blog. I have always thought that we need is a taxi university and now, more or less, we will have one, and even better, tuition free. And of course you will be rewarded but how will be solely determined by you. I am only the instructor and a tired one at that!
Monday, February 5, 2018
Again, Back In Seattle---Reminded Once Again Why I Don't Want To Be Here
Before I go into what fun it hasn't been being back in the taxi, the big local cab news is the sudden closure of that Snohomish County and deep north King County fixture, Northend Taxi, a company that has been around the taxi scene much longer than I have. What I have been told is that Northend's owner, Linda Hawley, called it quits because she tried of the struggle to keep the company going.
Having never personally met her, legend and rumor paints her as an unpredictable figure prone to emotional outbursts. But what is true is that her entire operation is up for sell, including what I am told is some very valuable property adjacent to I-5. So while all her drivers and dispatchers might suffer, she will end up okay despite her uncertain decades running Northend.
Today a friend told me that a few years ago she declined an offer of $160,000 per car for her roughly 15 car fleet. Of course now she might expect to get between 20-30 thousand. At least the former Northend drivers won't have any problem finding new taxi homes, a few already transferring over to Seattle Yellow. Given that it is the winter season, if you are crazy enough to want to drive a Seattle cab, there are plenty available for you to suffer in. Welcome, my friends, to the living hell we are all sharing. Welcome!
As for being back behind the Seattle taxi wheel, I will make it short and sour, telling you that already I have come close to being killed by an insane driver on northbound I-5 and have twice encountered wrong way drivers. And what about the schizophrenic passenger yesterday who first insisted on being dropped off upon the opposite side of the street from her home, then compounding that bad decision by running headlong into oncoming traffic as I yelled "to please be careful!" Fun? No, this is not fun. Stupid? Yes, it is stupid!
Having never personally met her, legend and rumor paints her as an unpredictable figure prone to emotional outbursts. But what is true is that her entire operation is up for sell, including what I am told is some very valuable property adjacent to I-5. So while all her drivers and dispatchers might suffer, she will end up okay despite her uncertain decades running Northend.
Today a friend told me that a few years ago she declined an offer of $160,000 per car for her roughly 15 car fleet. Of course now she might expect to get between 20-30 thousand. At least the former Northend drivers won't have any problem finding new taxi homes, a few already transferring over to Seattle Yellow. Given that it is the winter season, if you are crazy enough to want to drive a Seattle cab, there are plenty available for you to suffer in. Welcome, my friends, to the living hell we are all sharing. Welcome!
As for being back behind the Seattle taxi wheel, I will make it short and sour, telling you that already I have come close to being killed by an insane driver on northbound I-5 and have twice encountered wrong way drivers. And what about the schizophrenic passenger yesterday who first insisted on being dropped off upon the opposite side of the street from her home, then compounding that bad decision by running headlong into oncoming traffic as I yelled "to please be careful!" Fun? No, this is not fun. Stupid? Yes, it is stupid!
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