Worcester Taxi Service. Kill ‘em with kindness, sort of.
I’ve been talking up the need to make some drastic changes to Worcesters public transportation system, especially in the realm of taxi service for a few years now. As the public transportation system in Worcester has been broken for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, since the only regular users of the bus and cab services in town are college students and people who can’t afford cars we don’t tend to hear much in terms of complaints. Remember some time back the WRTA bus drivers went on strike? It was like nothing happened; because the people who use them don’t have a very loud voice to complain with. If the buses in NYC went off line, there would be a major economic slowdown as public transportation is a necessity in most cities. But here in Worcester, almost everybody drives themselves to their destinations. It’s pretty funny if you think about it. Some of the best business in Worcester suffer simply because people cant park within eyesight of the entrance. Not too long ago, I caught a caller from Worcester to a local talk radio program complaining that he had gone to the Vietnam memorial in DC and there was no nearby parking so he left; this was in Washington DC! Home to one of the best public transportation systems in the country, if not the world. Thats Worcester for ya.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Personally, I’m not concerned with just making life easier for people without cars; I am interested in providing transportation to students, visitors and even locals (namely me) who have no problem getting around but would like Worcester to have more of a city feel. The big hang up with the current cab service (without going into the messy system of patronage involved) is there are simply not enough of them where and when they are needed. The Police Department is the agency in control of the cities 108 taxi medallions, so the city has the final say on how many cabs ore on the road. Whenever talk of more medallions hitting the street has come up the current owners of those medallions, ITOA (Red Cab) and Yellow Cab, make sure that the idea gets squashed using the argument that there is not enough demand to justify the increase in supply. The argument would make sense in an Economics 101 sort of way if in fact the market was allowed to determine the supply and demand. But thats not the case. It should be obvious to anyone that if the number of available taxis is bellow what the city needs, and that number is predetermined by the city and current owners than the service is going to suffer. If the service suffers enough, than it’s only going to be so long before people start to look elsewhere for their transportation needs. People in Worcester wrote off cabs 20 years ago and the market is left unable to correct the industry if the industry itself determined solely by the producers and not the consumers. Since the majority of us get along just fine by our own means, there is not much complaining going on. That’s going to change real quick and the city is going to suffer because of it.
We all know that there is allot going on in town, from massive redevelopment of the downtown area by way of the City Square project to the more general transition to an 18 hour city. Worcester is on the verge of actually having people come see us and maybe even stay! I know, it’s a crazy thought, people TRYING to get here. But trust me, it’s going to happen. The problem lies in connecting all these new business, residents and forms of entertainment to one another as well as tying them into the existing fractured infrastructure of residents, cultural venues, centers of education and inbound transportation. The city fathers acknowledge both an increase in transportation needs as well as an increase in commerce via it’s constant planning of new parking facilities and granting of parking variances to new business. But they’re missing the point that as more places pop up, the less likely people are going to be to travel to them on their own. Often times it’s just that much easier to hop in a cab and navigate a city with somebody else behind the wheel. This should sound about right to anyone, who has spent anytime, in just about any city. What you don’t want to be doing if you’ve planned a day or a night out is wait 30-45 minutes for a cab at every stop you make, never mind finding a way to contact the services if you’re not from the area. Thats the current state of affairs with Worcester cabs. Slow to arrive, overpriced and not very user friendly to make use of. So what do we do?
We ask me to fix it, natch.
Stock splits are a pretty well understood concept now that we’ve all traversed the dotcom days together. But the idea of a property split also makes sense for municipalities who are looking to break down their long held, closely guarded relationships with certain industries, without killing them off altogether. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the city, instead of just releasing more medallions, took the existing medallions and doubled them. So for every one that ITOA owns, they would now own two. And at least in theory, since they are still held privately by the same owners, they would not decrease in perceived value. Since currently the medallion holders say they is no need for more cabs, it would be unlikely that they would do anything with them besides sit on em. So we need to provide the ‘incentive’ to put them on the road.
Heres where it gets fun.
Medallion holders would have 18 months to put them on the road. At the end of 18 months the medallions would be put up for silent auction by the city, with the current holders only receiving 1/3 of the proceeds. The winners of the auctioned medallions would then have 6 months to get them on the road or they would go back to the city to be resold first come first serve at a standard fee. By doubling the number of medallions we would be giving more than enough room for the market to decide if it really has greater transportation needs than are currently available.
The second part of the plan would be a fare restructuring. Metered cabs would be replaced with a system of zones similar to voting districts but with greater division. This way as soon as you get into a cab, you know what its going to cost. And by making those devisions run parallel with city development, the cab companies will know almost exactly where they will need the most service. Along with the fare restructuring we need to bring back the idea of multiple cab stands throughout the city and around the obvious points of interest so that wait time is decreased. We have plenty of street side parking areas that are currently labeled commercial loading zones that would be perfect for this; just make the transition from loading zone to cab stand at the end of normal business hours. The final move would be to get everyone in town with a recognizable face to start using taxi services themselves, so they can see first hand what it’s state is now and how the need for more actually exists regardless of what the current proprietors say. Imagine if every local politician, every local hipster, every writer, artist, musician and business person started using only taxis as a way to get around the city; primarily in the evenings. People would notice. And the stigma attached to public transportation would vanish and the service would become a transparent part of urban life, the way it is in every good sized city.
I’m sick of driving folks. I want to drink more and drive less. I want to enjoy myself in Worcester without thinking about parking. But I don’t want to wait a half hour for a cab and I definitely don’t want one of my cities most vital services being held hostage by a system of patronage that should have died out with our long dead City Hall bag men.
So get on it. Thanks in advance!
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8 Responses to “Worcester Taxi Service. Kill ‘em with kindness, sort of.”
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TAXI!!
Sorry to leave this msg here - I couldn’t find an email link. I am putting together a mini conference on videoblogging here in Worcester. Please email me if you are interested and I will send you the info.
Bravo, mon ami.
Great article Paxton. Worcester, I agree is one of the worse cities I’ve ever been to for public transport.
I have traveled the world using public transport and from my life back home in London, England it has always been a major part of my life. Not because I didn’t have a car or I’m a nervous driver. I, like most, enjoy a good time. For me, that involves drinking. As much as I can get, without vomiting. After all, a population of drunks and a land where no one gets cut-off has nurtured me. You are old enough to vote and to die in a war you don’t believe in, so its safe to say you should handle personal responsibility for getting drunk. Don’t go suing the bar for falling down after they had served you 10 pints. Just get public transport.
So, with my drinking habit in toe I have taken buses around central and south America, Indonesia, China and America and whilst sometimes they are not the most comfortable they get you to the pub. Worcester has a lot to learn.
I have though; found the Taxi service to be pretty good in Worcester. I call, they come. But Paxton is right on the mark, we need more taxi’s. I would like to share one ride I took not so long ago.
I was enjoying a great night out with my wife down at The Lucky Dog enjoying great local acts like the Steamy Bohemians amongst others. The night was drawing to a close so we called a cab. Amazingly, it arrived within 10 minutes and off we went. Before we knew it, the driver had taken a turn under a bridge where it was obvious that there was about 2 feet of water sitting. Rather than stopping, the driver decides in his infinite testosterone fuelled wisdom, that this was not a big enough obstacle. He proceeds to drive straight through this “little” puddle and as we approach the deepest section, the car stalls. Oh what a surprise. At this point, the water is sitting half way up the doors and the driver is trying desperately to start the car. Realizing his predicament, he calls for another cab to come and get us, good call. Then, I realize that I am going to get wet, sweet. What the hell, I’ve had a few beers and a great night, I’m still in a great mood and am all hyped up to carry my wife through 2 feet of water. I was going to be her hero.
Just as I am about to climb out of the car, the engine fires up, well, coughs and splutters. The car is moving through the water and we are all preying that we get to the other side. It takes a while but we make it and the driver has redeemed himself and miraculously saved his evenings work. We get home, just and I give him his fare for recovering from the most horrendous mistake you can make in a car. Good for you, and well done.
On reflection, I should have told him to sod off. Not because he made the initial mistake but because he had denied me the rare occurrence of being my wife’s hero.
Dear Taxi drivers, as Paxton has pointed out, you have it good. Don’t make life hard for yourselves, or for us drunken desperados that rely on you.
PS You owe me a hero’s moment.
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Remember some time back the WRTA bus drivers went on strike? It was like nothing happened; because the people who use them don’t have a very loud voice to complain with.
You know, when I read that a few years back I thought that was kind of harsh, but history shows that it’s right on the money.
You’re buddy Phil McNamara’s actually writing about the WRTA for an upcoming story in our local weekly and been collecting horror stories on his tape recorder.
Actually, I’ve been talking with lots of folks who have given up on the bus and have either took out a loan and bought a car, or took a job that they could walk to.
Bad bus service limits the whole economy.
If ya got anything to say about it, drop me a line at spaceguy3@charter.net
http://www.cathedralcars.net - Cathedral Cars - Worcester’s Premier Taxi Service