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Photo of cabs fueling up during those Halcyon days of $3.50 gas courtesy 54 East.
In 2004 – the year taxi fares increased 26%, President Bush got re-elected, and Janet Jackson’s nip slipped – the average price of gas in the city was $1.80 a gallon. It now costs around $4.45 a gallon, with no signs of diminishing, and there is increased clamor from cabbies for the city to institute a surcharge of $1 per ride. But Taxi and Limousine Commission chairman Matthew Daus yesterday declared that "under no circumstance" would the TLC implement a surcharge.
Eleven other cities have instituted temporary fuel surcharges to ease the impact on cabbies, but Mayor Bloomberg rebuffed calls for a surcharge yesterday, putting the onus on drivers to start using more fuel-efficient taxis. (Yesterday Bloomberg announced his plan to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the city's municipal buildings.) Driver and organizer Bill Lindauer told the Times, “This is how the mayor treats working people? I believe the mayor is a bold, innovative and pragmatic man, but he has an Achilles’ heel; he doesn’t feel for other people.” Loubert Alexander, another owner-operator, said, “Two years ago, a fill-up cost $40; now it’s double that.”
According to the TLC, the average daily gross earnings for a driver who owns his or her own vehicle and leases a medallion were $290.75 in June, basically unchanged from June 2007. But drivers say the pump is sucking them dry and their hourly income has plummeted; according to the Sun, some drivers are making as little as $12 per hour depending on the fuel efficiency of their vehicles.
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Say goodbye to the big ol' Crown Vics.
I say they should give incentives and maybe rebates to go green I hardly take cabs anymore since every thing is going up cabbies do deserve to make a living.
these hacks are hacks.
I hate Crown Vics as much as anyone, but the issue here is that this is not an open and free market. The cab business is totally 100% regulated by the city and some reasonable considerations should be given to the undeniable fact that operating expenses for these guys have soared.
And maybe a higher cab price would get some of those cars off the streets and more people on mass transit.
we need specially-designed cab vehicles that are fuel-efficient (like the new london initiative), not those generic fleet crown vics. but yea, i wonder how the cabbies can afford to switch.
There's a shortage of hybrids, so even if they wanted to they couldn't switch.
Millionaire landlords (if you own property in NYC you're a millionaire) get rent increases due to fuel costs, but the working class get stiffed.
Maybe if 80% of cab drivers weren't assholes I'd care more. I say use this to force them to get the hybrids and then maybe if they do that help them out in some way.
Sounds weird, but I'm with JenChungsBra on this one. In the short term, before the cabbies can convert to fuel efficient vehicles (because let's be honest -- that will take some time) they should be able to pass gas costs onto the customers.
The price of food has gone up for the same reason. Why should cabbies eat these costs? This is a free market system, right? Of course it sucks, but people who rides in cabs will have to pay more.
"he doesn't feel for other people"? Last I checked, those of us who would have to pay that surcharge on top of all the other stupid surcharges and the recently increased fares are people too.
$300/day is a pretty decent living - work 5 days a week 48 weeks a year and you're pulling in over $70K. That's a heck of a lot more than an NYC teacher makes. (And that's without factoring in tips and anything else they don't report.)
The fact is, people who ride in cars all around thenation are having to pay more, so why not implement a surcharge? If you want to ride in a cab, you should have to pay more for the gas like everyone else.
"This is a free market system, right?"
This came out wrong. I realize cabs are regulated by the city, but what I mean is that it SHOULD be more like a free market system. Were not talking about a necessity like health care or education (which, in my opinion should be NOT be free market) we're talking about the luxury of riding in a cab.
Also, I like how active the mayor is in opposing this surcharge, but he is not vocal at all against the fare increases proposed by the MTA. The poorest of this city obviously use the subways more than cabs, so why don't we charge more for the cabs and work hard to find ways to avoid an MTA fare increase?
if cabs actually picked up customers instead of saying "no, i don't want to go there" and driving around aimlessly, they would probably make more money.
Good point, Alex.
It can't be a free market system - the demand for cabs would overwhelm the street.
That said, the strength of the demand for taxis is such financing should be easy to acquire.
That was an interesting link for the London taxis. Their 100-mile range and 50mph top speed would make them impractical for the current taxi model though.
Go green.
I'm a big believer in not giving a fuck about cab drivers. I've taken less than 1 cab in the last 3 years. 1. cab drivers are dicks. 2. They pollute the earth and contribute to traffic 3. They really aren't a luxury: I don't know what's so luxurious about sitting in a hot cab that smells like a greasy sweaty habib and heated polyurethane from the plastic dashboard. 4. bicycles are faster. If you are moving stuff. rent a uhaul. If you are going to a party get a nice black livery cab.
A $1 surcharge is pretty fair considering that the people who take cabs to get around are not hard up for cash.
Terminology is critical here. When the Times reports "According to the commission, the average daily gross earnings for a driver who owns his or her own vehicle and leases a medallion were $290.75 in June", does the $290 represent gross profit, which is how much a business takes in before expenses (like gasoline), or gross income which is how much an individual is paid before taxes? Since a cab driver as described above is both a business and an individual, it'd be easy to confuse which of these vastly different definitions are being applied.
Companies pass costs off to you fuckheads every single day, but when the little guy wants to do it, people whine.
Fucking hypocrites, all of you.
JMH, that's $290 GROSS...so that DOES factor in tips and "anything else they make". You aren't factoring in vehicle rental costs, taxes, gas, etc. Also to SikBug, yes there are many drivers who are assholes, but there are also many who are good people just trying to make a living. To think that the extra $1 is unfair for you to have to pay for the LUXURY of not having to walk to a subway/bus stop is totally ridiculous. It's easy to say "let those scumbag taxi drivers eat the difference in cost", but it still doesn't make it right. I completely agree with Alex's sentiment that the gas costs should be shared by all who choose to drive or ride in a cab.
See, here's the thing: by raising the price of a cab ride EVEN more than it is...cab drivers would be shooting themselves in the foot. We all know most cab drivers like short fares in the city because they let them pick up quick money (basically the base fare) and get a few more. They're not a fan of longer rides and that makes sense--I wouldn't be either if I was a cabbie. It already costs 2.50 for a base fare. If I'm just going crosstown...there's not a chance in hell I'm going to pay a base of 3.50 to do it when I could find cheaper ways to do it (walk, bus, hitchhike, you know). It essentially defeats short rides. If you're trying to make a meeting a few blocks away and the base fare would cost more than it used to take you to take the trip altogether...you're going to think twice.
And I agree 100% with pazzia: maybe if every cabbie I run into would stop refusing the $28 dollar fare out to where I am in Queens (with the $5 dollar tip I tend to give if they didn't...you know, mess up dreadfully) they wouldn't have to worry as much.
Get the cabs to go green. Reduce the amount of cabs or their size or something. And the city should subsidize this or something. Subsidize fuel if they pay for a hybrid now or solar panels or something.
And where are our GPS in cabs? None of these guys know where they're going!
abzme, from what I understand, the GPS in cabs was never intended for the drivers to use as navigation devices. The GPS in cabs is for tracking purposes only.
Sorry Chosun, I don't buy that a reported $290 "gross" includes off-book earnings. It doesn't factor in vehicle rental costs because the figure is provided for drivers who own their vehicles.
By the way, I'm not sure why the only options are "12 mpg Crown Vic" or "hybrid".
I would feel for them if they wouldn't double the meter fare to drive to Jersey City / Hoboken, and then fill up their tanks on our cheap gas. Let them burn in oil hell.
JHH: The reported $290 is gross, so that should include tips (although there's no real way to verify the accuracy of it). Even so, it's a relatively thin margin, especially when you have to work a 12 hr shift to do it. Also, being that it's the gross amount, vehicle rental costs or finance payments are still both costs that the drivers need to cover.
Regarding the Crown Vic's on the road: I actually had a cab driver (who was one of the few who owns his own car) tell me that it boils down to a cost issue. Apparently the Crown Victoria is a much cheaper car since it's so widely used as a cab (so they already have all the necessary cab "dressings" for it), and it's an American car, making is cheaper to repair. Either way, these guys are required to buy a new car every 3 or 5 years, so it makes sense.
Of course the whole fleet should go green. But lots of these cabbies don't own their own cars, so its not fair to tell them to get a hybrid as the solution. Driving a cab in NYC is no fun. These guys deserve at least a temporary relief.
The other thing with the Crown Victoria is that it is a body on frame design. That makes it very popular with fleet operators such as law enforcement and taxi fleets. Body on frame was how all cars used to be made until almost all switched to unibody.
The body on frame cars are better suited for heavy duty use and are easier to repair after an accident.
The medallion system is anti-free market, and is one of the most damaging regulations on blacks.
Bloomberg is showing his socialist side each time he opens his yap.
JRod5417, I take cabs for safety reasons and/or because the MTA decides it wants to skip all the stations in the vicinity of my apartment on the weekends (rather than wait alone at night on the sidewalk for a bus at the train's last stop near me, I take a cab the rest of the way home, for example). Not everyone who rides in a cab is rich or travels exclusively via taxicab.
Companies pass costs off to you fuckheads every single day, but when the little guy wants to do it, people whine.
Fucking hypocrites, all of you.
I don't like the name calling, but you speak the truth.
cherrycoke: try this instead.
i agree with VanessaNYC that taxi=luxury.
The number of taxi medallions (the city issued license to operate a yellow cab) is regulated at around 16,000, there are about 12,000 in use. They are owned mainly by large corporations. Get ready for this one - they sell for around $600,000 each. The driver's have to work very hard to come out with a living wage.
I don't know what the city charges for them, but it is not enough.
I'm all for free enterprise but we have to get real here. Perhaps if they are valued and taxed the way commercial real estate is, it would be a more equitable deal for all of us.
If a person owns one medallion, the taxes should be considerably lower, then it's a small family business. If the taxi owners don't like it or give the city a hard time, then end the monopoly and start issuing medallions to individual Black Car owners with a proviso that he or she cannot sell or borrow against it for 5 years, if they default it goes back to the city, who can then sell it again. The pollution is another story.
JMH: Fair enough, but the number of car owner/drivers is quite small. Most of the cabs out there are owned by garages and rented out. These garages own the medallions, and only make certain cars available. To them, the gas prices are irrelevant, so they will tend to purchase the cheapest options...especially when the gas costs are covered by the drivers. I actually asked one driver (who was driving a hybrid) how he liked it, and he told me that he prefers the hybrids, but there are only a few available from the garage he rents from. So it takes it back to the drivers having to front the costs for gas. Also (from what I was told), the cost of a cab with all of the required additional equipment was ridiculous (around 80k), and it still needs to be replaced after a few years.
The mayor has a point.. but calling "hybrid" isn't going to solve anything now.
Might as well let the cabbies have their gas surcharge. Its obviously needed with gas (esp in manhattan.. land of cabs) being ridiculously high. Cabs are a luxury item and you pay for the convenience.
I think on average most New Yorkers don't take cabs. This city has a highly developed (although sometimes infuriating) system of public transportation AND is one of the most walkable cities in the US. I can't even remember the last time I took a cab. In my opinion, a great deal of manhattan cabs are there for the tourists anyway. $1 more isn't going to mean much to them.
See how pissed they get when it's 8 bucks a gallon in a year or so.
The dollar has been devalued by over 50% in the last few years. The government is intent on bankrupting the population to turn us in to slaves dependent on a welfare state. The New World Order must destroy the USA to give rise to a global economy. Dont believe me? Check in to it. http"//www.infowars.com
$12 per hour seems like a decent wage for a bunch of assholes who can't fucking drive.
However, they should charge a surcharge. Why should they be forced to eat the higher operating costs?
#38- Whoa, tinfoil starting to boil the ol' noggin there a bit?
High gas prices are finally allowing other technologies like hybrid's to become more affordable. Gas prices today are high because demand is high. We can decrease demand by driving more fuel efficent vehicles, not by subsidizing gas prices. If we just keep subsidizing prices instead of actually trying to solve the root of the problem, we just keep increasing demand and keep raising gas prices. Cab drivers should adapt just like everyone else.
If anyone has worked in the service industry you can understand what these drivers are going through. Being a cab driver or a waiter is an exploited position that, while perhaps being part of a free market system, really favors the fleet owners or restaurant owners. In both cases the server is given a position where if they work really hard and often they can counter the operating costs or in the case of the waiter the pathetic or nonexistent hourly wage and come out with enough money make a living.
It is true that some drivers are jerks and opportunistic in their own right but that's much like the snotty waiter who is rude because they hate their job. Well then some might argue, get a different job then. Guess what, part of our "precious" way of life revolves around the luxury of having the ability and privelage to be able to afford services provided by the private sector.
We're talking about a dollar here people. Buy yourself a cup of coffee instead of a triple soy carmel whatever and you can afford yourself a trip across town.
zodak - wow, thanks! I didn't know about that. Thank you for sharing that with me :)
If anyone has worked in the service industry you can understand what these drivers are going through. Being a cab driver or a waiter is an exploited position that, while perhaps being part of a free market system, really favors the fleet owners or restaurant owners. In both cases the server is given a position where if they work really hard and often they can counter the operating costs or in the case of the waiter the pathetic or nonexistent hourly wage and come out with enough money make a living.
While I agree that it's a tough job, there's a lot of empty rhetoric in there.
Of course the owners are always in an elevated situation with leverage. That goes for every job. I'm a desk jockey who makes more than a waiter or cab driver, but I'm "exploited" just the same by my bosses.
Did you buy your own desk Chips? How about your work computer? Maybe they let you lease it...
Gas prices are high right now not because the demand is high (it has dropped), but because of market speculation.
One of the above commenter nailed it. I found it really ironic Bloomberg doesn't want cabs to charge a surcharge but when it comes to the MTA and when they want to raise the fares he is all for it without a drop in the bucket.
Did you buy your own desk Chips? How about your work computer? Maybe they let you lease it...
I did first say that the medallion system was absurd, anti-free market, and hurts minorities.
So while I agree that our jobs are different, there are a lot of jobs where you have to invest your own capital to further your career or earn more.
Your waiter example doesn't really tie back, though. I'm confused. Because they buy a black shirt and pants, they're joblocked because of this? You could make this argument for cab drivers, which you didn't, but no one held a gun to their head.
That said, I don't favor the medallion system or any city regulation on livery service.
The waiter analogy is not perfectly parallel to the cabbie situation but the idea is that in both situations it's the pure hustle that provides your living. You don't have a paycheck or any security and your indebted to your employer simply because they are giving you the opportunity to make money.
The cab drivers don't have a lot of opportunities to improve the there income the way the system currently is. Until all the fleets offer the hybrids they're stuck with the gas guzzling crown vics. I know that some drivers are just playing it cheap, not trying to improve their overall situation by maybe trying to afford their own car so there is that, but drivers are also responsible for the credit card fees on the new machines too.
Maybe the fairs should be raised by a percentage based on mileage instead of a flat surcharge. That would discourage the greediness of the many small rides.
The waiter analogy is not perfectly parallel to the cabbie situation but the idea is that in both situations it's the pure hustle that provides your living. You don't have a paycheck or any security and your indebted to your employer simply because they are giving you the opportunity to make money.
This is also true of most sales jobs from the people who stand on the corner trying to get you to come into their store while wearing a sandwich board, to cell phone kiosks in the mall, to a pharma sales guy making $250M.
My issue with your first post was that we should feel bad because they're being exploited. Hey, it's a tougher job than most but that doesn't necessarily mean they're being exploited.
Look if we raise rates then people will be forced to use the MTA... which is only to get worst as its totally mismanaged!!!!
While demand has dropped in America, it has still risen worldwide.
Well chips, your partly right in that a cab drivers job is similar to some sales positions, but cabbies will never have an opportunity to make $250 commission.
I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about the cabbie's situation. Sympathy is different than pity. I am trying to bring attention to some peoples unreasonable attitudes towards priveleged services. We still enjoy a highly affordable lifestyle in this country compared to other places yet you give somebody a chance to gripe about another dollar out of their pocket and the flood gates open.
Raising the rates marginally is not going to make more people ride the subway but I totally agree that the MTA is doing a horrible job. If the subways ran up to there full potential then the price of cabs would be a lesser issue as would driving congestion in the city.
Not only has demand for oil increased in the rest of the world (can you say "a country with a billion people is developing a middle class?"), but future speculation on oil prices is screwing with the current sales. The U.S. has a lot of oil stockpiled from what I've heard but they are just sitting on it for...?
The U.S. has a lot of oil stockpiled from what I've heard but they are just sitting on it for...?
To make sure our currency is further used in the exchange of all oil sales. It's what keeps our weak dollar afloat, and is the reason why we went into Iraq and tried to overthrow Chavez.
When oil is traded in the Euro or another currency, people will see what many are already seeing: Our dollar is essentially worthless.
Which country with a billion people that is developing a middle class are you talking about?
Which country with a billion people that is developing a middle class are you talking about?
I assume he/she was talking about China.
"The U.S. has a lot of oil stockpiled from what I've heard.."
About 1.7 billion barrels. This Strategic Reserve is mainly intended as a buffer in case of either an embargo such as the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, or a national defense emergency. Neither case applies in the present oil price crisis, and 1.7 billion barrels wouldn't affect prices at the pump much anyway. The cabbies should get something to relieve their strain but their passengers should get a Bill of Rights to go with it. "No more riding up on sidewalks" would be a good start...
Yes I was talking about China. I actually forgot that India has over a billion now too. Although I believe that China's modernization and development is happening at a much faster pace right now comparably.
Let them take it out
of the tips that they under report.
I guess the Taxi-drivers & owners
mosque on 29th street& Broadway is gonna
have a hat outside for alms.