Alison Grant ‏@alisonkgrant  4m

Some taxi drivers @GoingPlacesCLE object to cab signs advertising Gay Games, quit driving in airport fleet http://bit.ly/1hFOWDc

Both Uber and Lyft are operating in Cleveland now.

 

Alison Grant ‏@alisonkgrant  4m

Some taxi drivers @GoingPlacesCLE object to cab signs advertising Gay Games, quit driving in airport fleet http://bit.ly/1hFOWDc

 

Ugh, once again, I made the mistake of looking at the comments. I don't know what I was expecting.

Exactly! If you don't agree with something be prepared to experience the consequences.

Personally I see this as a chance for RTA to up their game. As the games get closer wouldn't it be really neat to coordinate special express trains to and from Hopkins to Tower City.

 

Alison Grant ‏@alisonkgrant  4m

Some taxi drivers @GoingPlacesCLE object to cab signs advertising Gay Games, quit driving in airport fleet http://bit.ly/1hFOWDc

 

Ugh, once again, I made the mistake of looking at the comments. I don't know what I was expecting.

 

I think its time we demand cleveland.com and other media sites to require their posters to register and verify their IDs with their names and e-mail addresses.

 

This is an opportunity for GCRTA, Uber and Lyft -- the latter two are under attack by Cleveland taxi operators.

 

Alison Grant ‏@alisonkgrant  4m

Some taxi drivers @GoingPlacesCLE object to cab signs advertising Gay Games, quit driving in airport fleet http://bit.ly/1hFOWDc

 

Ugh, once again, I made the mistake of looking at the comments. I don't know what I was expecting.

 

Internet comments sections are the new hang-outs for hateful bigots.  It gives them freedom to say things they don't have the courage to say in public..... their true feelings.  I try not to assign the thoughts and viewpoints expressed therein as being representative of the community at large, but it is cause for concern in terms of how little we have progressed on issues of tolerance..... especially race and sexual orientation.  Cowards.

Didn't a large city paper recently eliminate the comments section because of the bigoted comments? I remember reading it recently but I can't seem to recall where I read it.

 

Edit:

 

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/14/chicago-sun-times-bans-comments-from-online-stories

 

 

Chicago Sun-Times bans comments from Chicago Sun-Times bans comments from online stories 21

 

 

 

There have been more than one who have required a validated registration with your true identity before allowing comments.  That cuts down on about 99% of the peanut gallery of morons, bigots and zealouts, many of whom are not even from the local area.  I believe the Buffalo News did this awhile back.

 

Alison Grant ‏@alisonkgrant  4m

Some taxi drivers @GoingPlacesCLE object to cab signs advertising Gay Games, quit driving in airport fleet http://bit.ly/1hFOWDc

 

Ugh, once again, I made the mistake of looking at the comments. I don't know what I was expecting.

 

Internet comments sections are the new hang-outs for hateful bigots.  It gives them freedom to say things they don't have the courage to say in public..... their true feelings.  I try not to assign the thoughts and viewpoints expressed therein as being representative of the community at large, but it is cause for concern in terms of how little we have progressed on issues of tolerance..... especially race and sexual orientation.  Cowards.

 

i dont necessarily take the replies of open forum internet heros as their true feelings. often its just trolling.

Is it just me or does it seem like there's more taxis operating in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods? I wonder if there's a way to track "rides" or "fares" in Cleveland in a public website.

Is it just me or does it seem like there's more taxis operating in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods? I wonder if there's a way to track "rides" or "fares" in Cleveland in a public website.

 

Largely cash business so i'm sure most cabbies wouldn't want to divulge too much info.

 

With Lift in town (and hopefully Uber someday) maybe they will be forced to compete in the digital world, including credit cards and GPS tracking.

 

Is it just me or does it seem like there's more taxis operating in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods? I wonder if there's a way to track "rides" or "fares" in Cleveland in a public website.

 

Largely cash business so i'm sure most cabbies wouldn't want to divulge too much info.

 

With Lift in town (and hopefully Uber someday) maybe they will be forced to compete in the digital world, including credit cards and GPS tracking.

 

Lyft and Uber both started Cleveland service two weeks ago.

Wow where was the press on Uber?  I never saw a peep.  And I never look for Uber when I'm home because I have my car!  Great news!

Wow where was the press on Uber?  I never saw a peep.  And I never look for Uber when I'm home because I have my car!  Great news!

 

here is one story

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/uber_launches_its_app-driven_t.html

Wow where was the press on Uber?  I never saw a peep.  And I never look for Uber when I'm home because I have my car!  Great news!

 

here is one story

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/uber_launches_its_app-driven_t.html

 

I've been so crazy busy have not been reading mainstream media.  I have seen dozens of Lift ads in my Facebook feed.  I guess Uber is not reaching me!

What do you guys think of this?

 

Undercover Police Are Targeting Uber And Lyft Drivers To "Send A Message"

By Alice Truong

 

"Undercover police operations have been systematically targeting Uber and Lyft drivers by issuing citations totaling thousands of dollars in places like Madison and Pittsburgh."

 

Read more:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3029754/most-innovative-companies/undercover-police-are-targeting-uber-and-lyft-drivers-to-send-a-me?utm_source=facebook

Taxi companies have long had corrupt owners in Cleveland and other cities. In Buffalo, mob boss Stefano Magaddino owned a local taxi company and bribed city officials to keep streetcars from serving the 1929-built Buffalo Central Station to protect a lucrative source of business. In Cleveland, Irish gangster Mickey McBride owned Yellow Cab here among other enterprises, including being the founding owner of the Cleveland Browns. Taxi companies are all-cash businesses so they make great places to launder money and hide ill-gotten profits, even today.

 

So it sounds like some of these fine, upstanding owners of various cab companies realize what a big threat Uber and Lyft are to their business. And they'll "encourage" city officials to order police to harass these businesses.

On the Downtown Cleveland Alliance website, it says:

 

"Downtown Taxi Services

In the City of Cleveland, passengers cannot hail taxis on the street. In order to hire a taxi, passengers have two options. They can either reserve a taxi by calling one of the following companies that service Downtown and the taxi will pick them up, or they can go to one of the several hotel taxi stands located throughout Downtown and pick up a cab. "

 

http://www.downtowncleveland.com/parking-and-transportation/taxi-service.aspx

 

First of all, is this nonsense true?  You can't step outside and hail a cab? No one knows where cab stands are and they certainly aren't everywhere. Such a policy or law (if followed) discourages taxis from cruising looking for pax. If true, why would the city make such a law that hurts the city from becoming a vibrant place?

 

 

Edit:  Also, if it really is a law, can someone point me the section in the Codified Ordnance of the city?  Thanks.

 

^ I hail cabs all the time downtown.  That's bizarre.

that was also the law in Cincy until a few years ago when council changed it.

^ I talked to a few cabbies--they said they'd pick up anybody anywhere (though they won't necessarily cruise everywhere). So I think we're fine on that front. My concern is if it is indeed a city policy or law to prevent such commerce, convenience, and urban vitality from happening.

It's been like that for as long as I can remember.

 

I usually just go to a hotel if I'm out late. 

 

Stupid?  Yes.

I've hailed cabs on various downtown streets too.

 

BTW, is it just me or are there more cabs downtown and surrounding neighborhoods in the last couple years.

I've hailed cabs on various downtown streets too.

 

BTW, is it just me or are there more cabs downtown and surrounding neighborhoods in the last couple years.

 

It's not just you - I've been happy to find it very easy to get cabs from downtown, Ohio City, and even University Circle.  I couldn't say the same thing a couple years ago.

^I've definitely noticed a lot more cabs recently, especially compared to five years ago. 

Are you guys serious?  I didn't know. :|  I usually go to the Ritz or the Renaissance.

^^ SixthCity, Clefan98, KJP:  Are you guys saying cabbies now cruise around OC, Tremont, Univ Circle, and all over Downtown? 

 

 

I don't understand, though, why the issue exists. Why would the city make it illegal to hail a taxi and only allow taxi pickups at certain locations? Apparently the issue was the same in NYC. Yellow taxis could only accept pax in Manhattan south of 96 St on the east side and south of 110th St. on the west side. After 'years of trying' Mayor Bloomberg finally got approval to have a taxi system that will allow street hails in the city outside of this area. (Such taxi's can't pick up at the airports or in Manhattan south of 96St/110 St.)  But why were yellow cabs prohibited from picking up pax in Brooklyn (or Queens or elsewhere) anyway? And why not in Old Brooklyn, Shaker Square, Midtown, etc? Its clearly not just a wacky Cleveland rule, if NY had it too.

 

Reference:

 

"The state’s highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld the Bloomberg administration’s plan to radically expand street-hail taxi service beyond Manhattan, signaling a fundamental shift in New York City’s entrenched taxi culture.

 

As early as next month, thousands of the newly designated taxis — bearing fresh apple green paint, new roof lights and taximeters — will begin to descend on neighborhoods where yellow cabs rarely visit, addressing an inequity that has existed for decades.

 

The 6-to-0 decision by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the city to issue up to 18,000 “hail licenses” for livery cabs in northern Manhattan and the other boroughs..."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/nyregion/plan-for-expanded-taxi-hailing-service-reinstated.html?_r=0

 

 

 

 

^^ SixthCity, Clefan98, KJP:  Are you guys saying cabbies now cruise around OC, Tremont, Univ Circle, and all over Downtown? 

 

Yup all of the time.  I see them in Gordon Square as well. 

^^ SixthCity, Clefan98, KJP:  Are you guys saying cabbies now cruise around OC, Tremont, Univ Circle, and all over Downtown? 

 

 

I don't understand, though, why the issue exists. Why would the city make it illegal to hail a taxi and only allow taxi pickups at certain locations? Apparently the issue was the same in NYC. Yellow taxis could only accept pax in Manhattan south of 96 St on the east side and south of 110th St. on the west side. After 'years of trying' Mayor Bloomberg finally got approval to have a taxi system that will allow street hails in the city outside of this area. (Such taxi's can't pick up at the airports or in Manhattan south of 96St/110 St.)  But why were yellow cabs prohibited from picking up pax in Brooklyn (or Queens or elsewhere) anyway? And why not in Old Brooklyn, Shaker Square, Midtown, etc? Its clearly not just a wacky Cleveland rule, if NY had it too.

 

Reference:

 

"The state’s highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld the Bloomberg administration’s plan to radically expand street-hail taxi service beyond Manhattan, signaling a fundamental shift in New York City’s entrenched taxi culture.

 

As early as next month, thousands of the newly designated taxis — bearing fresh apple green paint, new roof lights and taximeters — will begin to descend on neighborhoods where yellow cabs rarely visit, addressing an inequity that has existed for decades.

 

The 6-to-0 decision by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the city to issue up to 18,000 “hail licenses” for livery cabs in northern Manhattan and the other boroughs..."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/nyregion/plan-for-expanded-taxi-hailing-service-reinstated.html?_r=0

 

 

 

 

 

Although that was a the law it was rarely enforced, in NYC.  I can hail a yellow cab and I'm in Central Harlem Flats.  You see tons of YELLOW cabs in the 120s, especially in the last decade.  But black cabs and dollar vans are prevalent in areas where yellow cabs feared to travel. Especially in areas that were designated "two fare" zones.  When I live in Brooklyn Heights I could hail a cab.

 

I've not seen a green cab in action in Harlem.  People, I know, prefer black cars because they are neighborhood businesses and the money stays uptown.

^^ SixthCity, Clefan98, KJP:  Are you guys saying cabbies now cruise around OC, Tremont, Univ Circle, and all over Downtown? 

 

Pretty much, I've been able to hail them easily on the weekends.

I don't understand, though, why the issue exists. Why would the city make it illegal to hail a taxi and only allow taxi pickups at certain locations? Apparently the issue was the same in NYC. Yellow taxis could only accept pax in Manhattan south of 96 St on the east side and south of 110th St. on the west side. After 'years of trying' Mayor Bloomberg finally got approval to have a taxi system that will allow street hails in the city outside of this area. (Such taxi's can't pick up at the airports or in Manhattan south of 96St/110 St.)  But why were yellow cabs prohibited from picking up pax in Brooklyn (or Queens or elsewhere) anyway? And why not in Old Brooklyn, Shaker Square, Midtown, etc? Its clearly not just a wacky Cleveland rule, if NY had it too.

 

Reference:

 

"The state’s highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld the Bloomberg administration’s plan to radically expand street-hail taxi service beyond Manhattan, signaling a fundamental shift in New York City’s entrenched taxi culture.

 

As early as next month, thousands of the newly designated taxis — bearing fresh apple green paint, new roof lights and taximeters — will begin to descend on neighborhoods where yellow cabs rarely visit, addressing an inequity that has existed for decades.

 

The 6-to-0 decision by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the city to issue up to 18,000 “hail licenses” for livery cabs in northern Manhattan and the other boroughs..."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/nyregion/plan-for-expanded-taxi-hailing-service-reinstated.html?_r=0

 

That's actually incorrect about NYC. Yellow cabs can legally be hailed anywhere, and that's always been true (in recent history, anyway).  The problem was that the cabs, the number of which the city limits, would only look for fares in the Manhattan core or at the airports (and in MTS's neighborhood, apparently), leaving no cab service for residents in other neighborhoods.  The new scheme effectively adds a new fleet that is only allowed to serve these other neighborhoods to fill that gap.

I have also heard before that you can't legally hail a cab in Cleveland...here's what I found in the city's code of ordinances for pedestrians:

 

§ 471.061  To Repeatedly Stop, Hail Down, or Beckon to Vehicles Prohibited; Exceptions; Penalties

  (a)  No person shall repeatedly stop, beckon to, or attempt to stop vehicles by hailing, waving arms, or making other bodily gestures, in or about any public place, or any place open to the public, or any private place visible from a public place, in combination with the following conduct:

  To repeatedly leave the place in a vehicle that the person has stopped, hailed down or beckoned to, and to return a short time later, in less than an hour, to the same or another public place, or any place open to the public, or any private place visible from a public place, to repeat the same behaviors.

  (b)  No person shall repeatedly stop, beckon to, or attempt to stop vehicles by hailing, waving arms, or making other bodily gestures, by waving arms, or making other bodily gestures, in or about any public place, or any place open to the public, or any private place visible from a public place, in combination with the following conduct:

      (1)  To transfer small objects or packages in exchange for currency or any other thing of value; or

      (2)  To carry small objects or packages in the mouth and to transfer such objects or packages to another person for currency or any other thing of value, or to swallow or attempt to swallow the objects or packages if approached by a law enforcement officer.

  ©  This section does not apply to any person who stops, beckons to, or attempts to stop vehicles due to emergency, or to warn drivers of danger, or to engage transportation for hire.

  (d)  The requisite culpability or intent for the offenses defined in this section is knowingly. As used in this section, “knowingly” has the same meaning as in Section 601.07.

  (e)  Whoever violates divisions (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on the first offense, and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.

Ord. No. 1217-02. Passed 6-10-02; eff. 6-14-02)

 

and for taxicabs:

 

§ 443.29  Cruising or Soliciting

  No public hack, while soliciting employment, shall stand on any public street or place other than at or upon a public hack stand, designated or established in accordance with this chapter; nor shall any driver of such hack seek employment by repeatedly and persistently driving his or her hack to and fro in a short space before, or by otherwise interfering with the proper and orderly access to or egress from any theater, hall, hotel, public resort, railway or boat landings, or other place of public gatherings. No person shall solicit passengers for public hacks, except the driver of a public hack, when sitting upon the driver’s seat of such vehicle, except that at special points designated by the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses not more than two (2) agents may be employed to solicit business on the street. No persons shall be permitted to ride in the front seat of a taxicab with the driver, unless the rear compartment is occupied, and any driver who shall permit this may be deprived of his or her license. All police officers and inspectors of licenses shall notify the Commissioner of any violation of this provision.

(Ord. No. 1684-76. Passed 6-29-76, eff. 7-6-76)

 

§ 443.30  Loitering Near Public Hack Prohibited

  No person shall loiter within a distance nearer than twenty (20) feet of any public hack occupying space on a public hack stand.

  The driver of any public hack shall remain on the driver’s seat, or inside of his or her hack at all times when such hack is standing upon the public stands or when actually engaged in carrying passengers, provided that nothing in this section shall be held to prohibit such driver from alighting to the street for the purpose of assisting passengers into or out of such vehicle, or take care of the calls of nature while upon a public stand, limiting his or her absence from such stand to fifteen (15) minutes, during which time his or her hack shall occupy a position at the rear end of such stand.

(Ord. No. 1684-76. Passed 6-29-76, eff. 7-6-76)

I don't understand, though, why the issue exists. Why would the city make it illegal to hail a taxi and only allow taxi pickups at certain locations? Apparently the issue was the same in NYC. Yellow taxis could only accept pax in Manhattan south of 96 St on the east side and south of 110th St. on the west side. After 'years of trying' Mayor Bloomberg finally got approval to have a taxi system that will allow street hails in the city outside of this area. (Such taxi's can't pick up at the airports or in Manhattan south of 96St/110 St.)  But why were yellow cabs prohibited from picking up pax in Brooklyn (or Queens or elsewhere) anyway? And why not in Old Brooklyn, Shaker Square, Midtown, etc? Its clearly not just a wacky Cleveland rule, if NY had it too.

 

Reference:

 

"The state’s highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld the Bloomberg administration’s plan to radically expand street-hail taxi service beyond Manhattan, signaling a fundamental shift in New York City’s entrenched taxi culture.

 

As early as next month, thousands of the newly designated taxis — bearing fresh apple green paint, new roof lights and taximeters — will begin to descend on neighborhoods where yellow cabs rarely visit, addressing an inequity that has existed for decades.

 

The 6-to-0 decision by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the city to issue up to 18,000 “hail licenses” for livery cabs in northern Manhattan and the other boroughs..."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/nyregion/plan-for-expanded-taxi-hailing-service-reinstated.html?_r=0

 

That's actually incorrect about NYC. Yellow cabs can legally be hailed anywhere, and that's always been true (in recent history, anyway).  The problem was that the cabs, the number of which the city limits, would only look for fares in the Manhattan core or at the airports (and in MTS's neighborhood, apparently), leaving no cab service for residents in other neighborhoods.  The new scheme effectively adds a new fleet that is only allowed to serve these other neighborhoods to fill that gap.

 

Actually, that law made it easy for cab drivers to arbitrarily discriminate against riders based on (race and) where they lived.

 

Example, its 2am you're in the Village and you want to go to bed-sty, Park Slop a cab would just drive off. If you were brown, they wouldn't even unlock the door.  The reason, they wouldn't get a fare back to Manhattan.  If you lived in Downtown Brooklyn (Brooklyn Hts., Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Ft. Greene) you could get a cab.  When I lived in Brooklyn, cab drivers wouldn't go to Park Slope. Prospect Hts, Crown Hts, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Rego Park, Carona, Jackson Hts., were in a cab drivers mind "no mans land".  The same would be for Manhattan above 96 street, Staten Island, and Jersey.  In the early 2000s, that "invisible border" switched to 125 street as the neighborhood rebounded, but people in the 130s still have little to no service and rely on black cabs.

 

Since YELLOW cabs didn't service the outer boros very well, "car service" or "black cars" operators built businesses [the majority being Dominican owned and operated] that service uptown Manhattan, the Bronx and Central Brooklyn.  They were easy to use, you call them and within 5/10 minutes a car is at your door.  Some have built lucrative businesses.  My nephews girlfriend's family owns a black car service.  They don't like the GREEN cabs.  The Yellow and Green cabs are separate but not equal.  Green cabs cannot pick up in Manhattan under 110 or at the airports.  But they can be affiliate with a dispatcher.  The Green cabs have the reverse issue of my example above.  They can pick up in the outer Boros, but cant get a fare coming back.

^"That law" didn't exist. The problems you describe were due entirely to cab driver prejudice and fear of driving back empty after not finding a fare in the outer boroughs, not any legal restrictions.  And of course car service people don't like green cabs- they offer competition.  Same reason why Cleveland taxi drivers don't like Lyft or Uber.

 

It's great to hear there are more cabs visible in Cleveland neighborhoods. Not only good for visitors but very helpful for going car-free or car-light too.

 

[Edited for typo]

^"That law" didn't exist. The problems you describe were due entirely to cab driver prejudice and fear of driving back empty after not finding a fare in the outer boroughs, not any legal restrictions.  And of course car service people don't like green cabs- they offer competition.  Same reason why Cleveland taxi drivers don't like Lyft or Uber.

 

It's great to hear there are more cabs visible in Cleveland neighborhoods. Not only good for visitors but very helpful for going car-free or car-light too.

 

[Edited for typo]

 

I should have said, "unwritten" law.

 

Yes we need more cabs, that means more eyes on the streets as well.  I agree it would help being car free or car light.

 

 

^^^Andrew0816--thanks for posting the law.

 

 

 

 

§ 443.29  Cruising or Soliciting

  No public hack, while soliciting employment, shall stand on any public street or place other than at or upon a public hack stand, designated or established in accordance with this chapter; nor shall any driver of such hack seek employment by repeatedly and persistently driving his or her hack to and fro in a short space before, or by otherwise interfering with the proper and orderly access to or egress from any theater, hall, hotel, public resort, railway or boat landings, or other place of public gatherings. No person shall solicit passengers for public hacks, except the driver of a public hack, when sitting upon the driver’s seat of such vehicle, except that at special points designated by the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses not more than two (2) agents may be employed to solicit business on the street. No persons shall be permitted to ride in the front seat of a taxicab with the driver, unless the rear compartment is occupied, and any driver who shall permit this may be deprived of his or her license. All police officers and inspectors of licenses shall notify the Commissioner of any violation of this provision.

(Ord. No. 1684-76. Passed 6-29-76, eff. 7-6-76)

 

 

Upon reading it, it doesn't say taxi's cannot cruise with the exception that they don't repeatedly cruise the same "short space", AND, if I read the part in red, below correctly, only two taxis may be cruise a certain location if that location is so designated as such by the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses. Meaning, aside from a with a few specific issues, taxi's CAN cruise for pax.

 

DCA and Marinucci should spend more time proofreading their typo-laden reports instead of publishing inaccurate and damaging material about the city.

Wolley Taxi has its license revoked.

 

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/investigations/cleveland-revokes-cab-company-license-in-midst-of-ongoing-5-on-your-side-investigation

Damn shame.  We rode a Wolley taxi home from the Amtrak station last summer... Nice cab (a minivan), but it was as though the cabbie had never been to Cleveland before.  We had to give her directions the whole way... Obviously, if Cleveland is going to continue it's development as a world-class city, we're going to need quality cab service (and, no, not just for the RNC). 

Damn shame.  We rode a Wolley taxi home from the Amtrak station last summer... Nice cab (a minivan), but it was as though the cabbie had never been to Cleveland before.  We had to give her directions the whole way... Obviously, if Cleveland is going to continue it's development as a world-class city, we're going to need quality cab service (and, no, not just for the RNC). 

 

This is not just Wolley.  Most of the guys driving the airport circuit have no idea either--probably 3 out of every 4 I take home from the airport I have to provide directions for....

Looks like Yellow Cab really got things backwards with Wolley.... ba-dump-bump.

Yellow Cab Co. of #Cleveland plans to shut operations after 80 years in business.

https://t.co/bABrmzTBGE

I felt bad till I remembered how awful, how utterly atrocious, my every interaction with any cab company employee has been.

Yes^

I felt bad till I remembered how awful, how utterly atrocious, my every interaction with any cab company employee has been.

 

Indeed. Cab companies have no one to blame but themselves for their fate.

I don't think that's true, at least from my own experience. I had a good experience with Yellow Cab in Cleveland. The driver was a lot more friendly than any Uber/Lyft driver I've interacted with. The only downfall was that the cab fare was $20 vs. $7 for the same trip with Lyft. Both trips were from University Hts. to Shaker Square. I was so surprised at how expensive the trip was - for a distance of 1.5-2 miles max that I finally downloaded the app.

 

It's true that cab drivers tend to not know where the hell they're going and how to get there. If you don't guide them, they're likely to take a less efficient route, which is pretty annoying. They don't use GPS. For some reason, a lot of the cab drivers seem to be foreigners who recently moved to the city and don't really know their way around. The difference in fare prices is enough to make cab companies go under but you can bet that Uber/Lyft fares are going to skyrocket once they've gained a monopoly and these cab companies finally go out of business to where citizens no longer have a choice. It's inevitable.

I could have dealt with Cleveland taxi drivers if they ever cleaned the cars, and if they ever used the meter--most of them I would get in the car and they'd immediately try to push some flat rate and fight using the meter.

 

At least with a ride share app you can get a fare estimate, they warn you when there is a surge, and you can leave negative feedback for dirty cars (which I've seen quite a few in Cleveland).

I felt bad till I remembered how awful, how utterly atrocious, my every interaction with any cab company employee has been.

 

Indeed. Cab companies have no one to blame but themselves for their fate.

 

Well, IIRC they had a phone-only business model, which would doom them in the 21st century.

 

But the main issue they claim was the city's licensing process, which included a difficult local geography test.

 

I'm pretty sure I would be correct in guessing this was "administered" by employability-challenged relatives of the PTB.

I wonder if the licensing process was something the cab companies lobbied for at one time to create a barrier to entry for new competition.

It's a sad situation. I hate to see a bunch of people lose their jobs when driving is actually their 'profession.'

 

I'm sort of surprised that folks in CLE aren't more anti-Uber/Lyft. My friends up here were boycotting Uber for a minute (I think because the CEO is a Trump supporter) but that didn't last long. I thought Cleveland had a strong culture of sticking up for the little man. Isn't Cleveland still union-heavy? I know people up here tend to support independent restaurants and retail establishments even though they're more expensive.

 

It's sad that they weren't really given an even playing field.

 

Even if cab companies had the software and technology that Uber and Lyft have, I think they'd still go under if Uber/Lyft is subsidizing fares with investor cash. I like the idea of supporting local cab companies but the reality is that I like paying $7 a lot more than I like paying $20. It's literally a third of the cost. Principals can be compromised with that kind of savings. Unfortunately, we as human beings tend to think short-term and give in to instant gratification. Uber fares are going to skyrocket in every market where there's no competition. Also, the meters are just so annoying. I HATE sitting in a cab watching that meter display such a rapidly increasing fare. It does something to you psychologically and you can't help but think you're being ripped off, even if you aren't.

 

There's many contributing factors but one that I think people overlook is how easy it is for people to abuse cab services without being held accountable. I imagine it's common for people to call four different cab companies and have them race to them, in an effort to get picked up faster. Since they're just calling it in, it's not like those cab companies can charge them a fee for wasting their time and gas. If cab drivers have a bad attitude, it's probably because of how poorly they can be treated by the kinds of people who don't have a smart phone or debit card.

 

 

I don't think the cab companies are really local or independent- aren't they just local outposts of national businesses, mostly?  I get the feeling when I've called dispatch that they had no idea of local geography- even major downtown landmarks.

 

I'd love to see an independent local rideshare business.  There are a few popping up in Austin and SF.  I am not really a fan of Uber personally.