The Taxi Fare Increase After 10 Days

I used to happily be generous with tips, but I'm so bitter by the end of the gouged ride that I have found myself becoming stingy. I feel bad, but I'm also pissed.

Last night on the way home from a bar my cab driver was telling me how pissed he was about the fare hakes. He kept saying how the cabbies "won't see one cent."

ivegotadeal, do you take checks?

I figured the cab companies were going to screw the drivers - that's a given. It's the Bloomberg/TLC angle that pisses me off.

Then again, this is the same guy who jacked up real estate taxes, bought property on the cheap, and then reversed those taxes to re-inflate the market. Dickweed.

No kidding - it should take 20 minutes. Suffice to say it involved an UPTOWN F Train, an A Train, a C Train and finally a D Train that got me to 7th Avenue. And that point, I gave up and walked.

james: 2 hours from 2nd Ave to Prospect Park? (I assume the 15th St. stop) That should be a 15-20 ride, tops. Jesus.

Jellyguy:

since you are so trusting and apparently believe everything you are told, give me your parent's lifesavings, i have a great investment opportunity.

I was under the impression that the cab companies weren't supposed to raise their take. Perhaps Bloomberg should spend less time banging ho's on his private jet and more time making sure the right people benefit from my money.

And I BETTER not get into a cab without fucntioning A/C this summer, or it'll be Dog Day Afternoon in Midtown.

Perhaps cabs should all be all hyribd electric/gasoline vehicles (or even fully electric). That way the savings in gasoline could help the cabbies earn a little bit more money, and it would cut down on the smog.

As far as the fare increase goes, I keep my eye on the meter more carefully. If I'm caught at a red light just a block or two away from my destination, I just get out right then and there rather than see the meter tick up 80 more cents.

I've boycotted them. But believe me, I'm not bragging. I pay for it in time. I spent 2 hours on the F Train Tuesday night going from 2nd Avenue to Prospect Park. I took the bus up First Avenue yesterday at 6:30pm b/c I didn't want to pay the absurd rush hour surcharge. I use the savings to spend more time in the smoke-free bars. Oh wait, I was supposed to boycott smoke-free bars too!

My neighborhood only has livery cabs. I never see a yellow cab there unless I'm taking one home. I avoid taking cabs unless it's late at night and/or I'm fairly inebriated, but my roommate swears by livery cabs because usually the fares are somewhat negotiable. She claims they're safer, but I don't know about that.

Jonathon, as you observe cabs do make money while waiting, but it's not much. In fact, the meter pull is the driver's bread and butter--if you can get 3 rides in the same time that you get 1, that's almost a $10 premium over sitting in traffic. More cheaper rides are better than fewer expensive rides.

No system of transportation in NYC is perfect. Cabs are expensive (but generally the safest bet late at night); walking is great for short distances but too slow for very long ones; the subway is crowded and smelly; bikes are great, unless there's no place to keep a bike where you work; buses are slow; driving your own car is nearly impossible due to traffic and parking. Still, I find it easier to get around NY than most other cities.

In regards to livery cabs of car services..

When you live in Brooklyn you often don't have any other choice but to take a car service to the airport as yellow cabs are scarce in some neighborhoods. And yes, I have been stood up by the car service and almost missed my flight.

I would love to know if cab 'attendance' has fallen off. Is there a way to review the increase because it serves neither the drivers nor the taxi companies if no one takes cabs anymore?

I can afford the increase, VLAD, but it seems like too much at once - the .50, the .40, the $1, the .50 and it really is shocking that my fares have doubled with the new policy.

If i weren't so lazy, I'd boycott.

I think people complain too much. Look, Taxi cabs in NYC are a luxury and not a necessity. We're lucky to have the amount of trains and buses we do, and be able to ride them at a reasonable cost. In other cities they're not as fortunate.

If you can't go for the extra two bucks, then buy a bike. Ding Ding.

Get a job that pays you enough to live here. Its that simple.

Odd that your $100k education didnt prepare you for simple math.

Now get back on the L train and stop your bitching

Keep tipping your drivers. I had the impression the fare increase would be going into drivers' pockets. However, all the drivers I've spoken with were very unhappy about the rise in fares. Despite the lip service that drivers would be the ones benefitting, the taxi companies went ahead and raised the take they get from the drivers (e.g., from $80 to $105 on the dayshift.) So unless drivers own a medallion ($300,000), they are worried about being squeezed with fewer customers and less tips as a result of the increase. Ask your driver what he thinks...

Is it that there are more taxis available during the surcharge period OR fewer people taking them as more people opt for other, less expensive means of transportation (read: the subway). If the 4 - 8 pm period is when demand for cabs is the highest, do you really think that drivers would intentionally stay off the roads then? Last time I looked, meters are based on distance AND time not moving (so the "cabs can't make money standing in traffic" bit rings false to me). The surcharge is simply extortion. Most people are simply reducing the tips....