Bostonist: Cab Drivers Rally; Higher Fares Possible

HarmyG

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:43:51 -0500

Use your turn signals! And your flashers when pulled over.

SocksPerson

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:59:50 -0500

When Boston cabbie's pass the same riggerous testing required by London's Cab Drivers (http://www.taxiknowledge.co.uk/how.html) they deserve a big fat raise and a pat on the back. I am not a fan of Boston Cap drivers. I have never been in a cab in Boston where the driver has had any idea where to go, what the traffic conditions were, let alone obey traffic laws... where do these guys come from? I would be willing to pay the high prices of the UK if I wasn't taking my life into my hands every time I entered a cab, or could at least trust that I wasn't being taken for a ride...

Rev_Ignatowski

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:48:46 -0500

I drove a cab in Somerville for 3 years, and had just received my Boston hack license when I got back into web dev. I've heard *all* the complaints, believe me. Most of them are probably accurate. Bostonmike, your friend should have refused to pay the fare and had the cabbie call the police. Cops can and will intervene if someone's been taken for a ride, and will either tell the thieving cabbie to get lost, or make sure the charge is reasonable. (When I'm in Boston, I always call one of my former co-workers from Somerville to come get me. It's not just because I like giving them the business - after several screaming fights with Boston cabbies who flat-out ignored my directions, my wife no longer lets me get in Boston cabs.) Re: the choice of Roxbury Community College - that's where the "training" takes place (three evening nights), and of course the Hackney Division is located at BPD HQ right around the corner (that's where you take the test).

bostonmike

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:26:23 -0500

Last time a friend picked up a Boston cab at Logan Airport, he told the driver to take 93 North to Medford. The cabbie took him out the Mass Pike to 95, scared the crap out of my friend who kept telling the driver that he was going the wrong way, and it turned a $35 cab ride into an $80+ ride. The cabbie wouldn't pull over, and later claimed he hadn't seen the sign for 93 North. When I tried to file a complaint, even though I had the medallion number, nobody was willing to do anything. Drivers like that should lose their licenses, but instead they make out like bandits. The good drivers work in the suburbs, and of course aren't allowed to pick up at Logan. Instead, visitors to our fair city get drivers like that as their welcome to Boston. It's horrifying.

Michael Femia

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:22:31 -0500

Learn your way around the city, and put down the damn cell phones, if you want any of my sympathy. Also - weird choice of venue for the protest; aren't there a lot of cabbies who refuse to go to Roxbury?