OPINION: For safer streets, pay taxi drivers by the hour
Some years ago, my wife and I took a class together. What I remember most, however, was not the class, but the hair-raising cab rides home. Most of the time, the cabbies went over the speed limit, sometimes alarmingly so. Sometimes they went through red lights. I found myself holding onto the plastic strap near the passenger seat, scared out of my wits, more than once.
I’ve also had occasion, from time to time, to ride cars from “black car” limo services. It’s a world of difference. Those guys basically proceed through traffic at a reasonable pace. If they go a little too fast, it’s only a LITTLE too fast. They don’t try to run the light or put their foot at the floor just after the light changes like they were running a race at the Indy 500.
What’s the difference? It’s very simple. I don’t know how “black car” limo drivers are paid, but I do know how yellow-cab drivers are paid. They’re paid by the trip. After they hand in their trip sheet for the day, they keep a certain amount of the money they earned – say, 45 percent – and the rest goes to the cab company or the taxi medallion owner.