What every cab driver needs to know

I was indeed curious about what taxicab drivers needed to learn to be able to transport Republicans. [Cf. Republicans are SOO Special (8/7/2008)]

So I went to this morning’s meeting to which our friends in DSI had sent all licensed taxicab drivers a summons. The summons said that there would be two meetings, the first of which was scheduled for 7:30 this morning at the North Dale Recreation Center. Attending either this meeting or one Thursday afternoon at the Wellstone Center is supposed to be a requirement for drivers who wish to operate under a “reciprocity” agreement which includes Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Bloomington, and the International Airport. [Although there is no reciprocation at all by the Airport and Bloomington has put the megamall off limits, so “reciprocity” must have a new meaning.] The room was full with no more than fifty present which means that either they can expect a really large crowd Thursday or they are conceding that there will be a lot of taxi owners who are not applying for the extra-fee and expense “reciprocity” stickers.” [Of course, as anybody who was at the West Side Citizen’s Organization 2006 annual meeting knows, there is a room at Wellstone Center which can hold a lot of people. And one might expect that there would be very few drivers or owners from the other jurisdictions applying for the chance to work here since locally our licensing department never looks for unlicensed cabs anyway.]

Handouts on the table in the front for us to grab included copies of Mpls. ordinances referring to taxicabs, a list of cab stands there, maps of downtown Saint Paul, a notification that Minneapolis 311 will be extended to other metropolitan locations during the RNC season [cell phones only], flyers promoting the Mpls. Civic Fest, a Roseville Visitor Guide, a list of events scheduled for Mpls. for August 29^th through September 5^th, and a Venue Guide for both cities.

The meeting did not get started until almost 8:00 apparently since there had been some confusion among DSI or Host Committee or somebody about the starting time. Richard Jents who takes care of enforcing taxicab regulations in Saint Paul when he has time arrived at about 7:50. His boss, Bob Kessler arrived shortly after 8:00.

It seems as if nobody from our own officialdom in DSI has the expertise to address local cab drivers on local rules and regs, since the person leading the session was a Minneapolis licensing official who was there with another man from that city well before the publicized 7:30 opening. Neither of the Mpls. people introduced himself. For that matter, neither did either of the Saint Paul DSI people mentioned, but we know who they are. There were also a couple of women there who were not drivers and who seemed to act as if they had something to do with things, cut it was never clear whether they were from government or the host committee.

The Mpls. presenter began by telling us of a bad experience he had with a taxi driver in Okinawa in 1969 when he was on his way back from service in Viet Nam and then went on to tell us many things, some not particularly germane since he kept referring to provisions in Mpls. codes and places.

Among the things our drivers learned:

> to stop at red, octagonal signs. [No kidding. It was prominent on the PowerPoint or similar presentation.]
> good service can lead to good tips.
> the number of people expected in the metropolitan area is comparable to the number who go to Viking game, but they will have fewer cars at their disposal.
> distribution of business cards can be good business
> it is illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving. [Mr. Kessler corrected the man on this, noting that there is no such prohibition in our city.]

> drivers should wear slacks, collared shirts, and shoes. This means no tank tops, shorts, or sandals. T-shirts also are not allowed. [Once again, Mr. Kessler had to correct the man, noting that local code has no dress requirements. Additionally, a driver asked if t-shirts are not allowed why were t-shirts being distributed and was told that even in Mpls. one can wear t-shirts if they are part of a community event and their licensing office has approved it.]
> customers are entitled to receipts.
> drivers should check for lost items after every trip and if a found item is not called for during a shift, it should be turned into one’s dispatching center at the shift’s end.
> drivers cannot smoke with passengers in cab
> drivers must take people by the most direct route unless the passenger requests otherwise.
> drivers cannot overcharge.
> drivers cannot refuse service to an orderly passenger.
> if Minneapolis authorities catch an unlicensed cab picking up there they will impound the car and issue citations. The fee to get a car out of impound is $638. The civil citations carry fines of $250 for the driver, $250 for the owner, and $250 for the dispatching company, although in the last case there is usually just a warning sent. Nobody knows what the penalties for a similar violation in Saint Paul would be since nobody has ever been cited.
> drivers should have a map book [GPS does not count] and a Braille business identification card in their cabs. [Once again local officials had to note that there are no such local regulations.]
> there may be traffic jams during the convention. Don’t honk. It won’t do any good.
> call 911 for emergencies or when you need police. [This is pretty much what I have heard police say at community crime prevention meetings, but when I tried to call the new Ramsey County 911 for a driver who had a passenger refusing to pay the fare a couple of months ago, the operator told me that I should not use that number since it was not an emergency.]

We also learned what has been pretty much released locally lately, that vehicles will not be allowed between Walnut, Shepard Road, St. Peter, and I-35E, but that traffic will be allowed on all of those perimeter roads. Access will allowed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, but how one gets that access or how much hassle one will face was not made clear. Let’s hope that we can get the passengers in before the patient dies or the baby is born.] Access to Chestnut from Shepard Road will not be allowed.

I suspect that he could not commit to much because there are so many security authorities involved, but Mr. Kessler was unable to comment on how many existing cab stands will continue to be usable. [One has to assume that guests of the Saint Paul Hotel will have to get off by the back, formerly front, door on St. Peter and schlep their own bags.] He did indicate that there would be two temporary cab stands set up for convention people, but that they would have to walk a bit. One would be on Walnut Street between Seventh and Exchange. The other would be on Wabasha between Fifth and Sixth. This announcement was made late in the meeting and nobody seemed to notice that creating that stand on Wabasha means that there will be a stand where most people approach from the rear. Anybody who has driven a cab more than a week or so will see the interesting situations this can create.

When I tried to ask who was paying the expenses for the meeting since there were at least four people who were on municipal payrolls present, I could not get any usable answer. I understand that this may be a bit tricky since last week I watched the City Council try to figure out who was funding the police for things, but the lack of response seemed unnecessarily evasive and hostile. The other Mpls. guy assured me that he was being paid by his city just as usual, that his presence at the meeting just meant that other things were not getting done. That certainly did not help much. I am convinced that somebody’s taxes or fees were paying for the totally unneeded meeting, but have to guess that nobody thinks it is any of my business.

Anyhow, good luck to all of the city’s drivers who still want to make a living despite the RNC.