Hackney Inspired Drunk Driving

MBTA has cancelled the night owl service and now Boston Taxi drivers are looking for more money per ride. Bostonist is sure when you put two and two together on this one there will be more drunks hitting the road in cars. It wouldn’t surprise us if the state legislature raises the OUI fines from the minimum/maximum of $500/$5,000 to $1,000/$10,000 for first time offenders. We’re not saying that this is a bad thing. Drinking and driving is a bad thing and we recommend that you always have a designated driver. We’re choosing the tea-toddling Mormon governor Mitt Romney to be our chauffeur.

At 50 cents per ride the proposed hike is really not that bad, especially if you’re sharing the fare with some of your other inebriated cohorts, but it still raises some concerns. When the MBTA decided to turn off Night Owl bus service forcing the city to hoof it, cab it, or get to bed by 12:30 a.m. on weekend nights Bostonist was pretty perturbed. Not staying out until the last drinks are served seems like unjust punishment. The Globe report today mentions that Boston’s cabs are some of the most expensive to run in the country, . Bostonist thought they’d be making some of that money back with all those Clear Channel blinking ads on top of the cabs these days. Isn’t there more ad space to sell, or is the Metro/Globe merger taking all the revenue.

Photo from www.saralovering.com