CAB PROBLEMS AT UNION STATION

Robert Samuels of the Washington Post wrote a great article on what some late night passengers at Union Station have to go through just to get a ride home. Mr. Samuels did his home work and wrote a well articulated piece about the problem, unlike his colleague Petula "all you can eat" Dvorak's poor yapping.

I drive at night and from time to time I work at Union Station when it is busy. What I witness at the station when ever there is a big line is really embarrassing, drivers speeding off when they learn the first person in line is a black guy, refusing to drive a passenger to a place they don't like, cherry picking their pickups and so on and so on. I have been a night driver for years and this problem is nothing new, but one should ask why do these problems happen mostly at night? Two things: 1- Half of the cab fleet during the night are illegal drivers, which means they are not licensed to drive a cab in the District of Columbia. They have nothing to protect if they get caught breaking the law, they get a $250 ticket and they wipe their asses with it and come back to hustle the next night. There should be a much stiffer punishment, like hard labor in Siberia or something! 2- The so called hack-inspectors are fighting the wrong war, instead of really investigating if the presented hack license is legitimate when a cab driver is pulled over, they check if a manifest is filled up, if our socks match, if we are wearing our seat belts and some other bull-shit laws that really don't help and protect the riding public.

The fix of this particular dilemma is simple, have couple of hack-inspectors at the taxi-line, problem solved! Don't tell me that the District of Columbia don't have a few thousand dollars to pay couple of guys to be on duty at the station when ever it is busy. But at the same time hack-inspectors need some more training to do, they need to understand that we the drivers are not the enemy but unfortunately that's how they look at us. Instead of being a team and work on addressing all the issues we encounter, we're playing the cat and mouse game.

For those ass-hole cherry-picking fellow cabbies who are throwing their passengers under the bus when they are in need, I got a message for you, fuck you all. Cab drivers, we are in the business of picking up strangers and drive them where ever shit hole they want to go. When you are in the business of picking strangers at night there is always that chance of dangerous encounter, we knew that when we decided to choose this pathetic career path. Get with program guys, like they say, if it is too hot, get the fuck out of the kitchen......

"Excuse me Mad, you're trying to be a hero you retard! Some thug is going to smoke your ass one of these days if you keep picking up every creep you see on the streets!"

Big deal, I have bunch of under-pants with skid marks that I kept as souvenirs each time I was robbed! Stop worrying man, just live every day as if it's your last day.

Please don't forget the homeless,

Mad Cabbie.      

DEAR PETULA DVORAK

 picture by the Washington Post

No this woman is not competing on the "Biggest Looser", she is columnist Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post. My friend Moi recommended that I read her article which was pretty much a personal attack on DC cab drivers.

"Mad Cabbie, why do you have to post her picture? I can't read this blog and throw up at the same time! I will never read this blog again, you jackass!!!"

You're not the only one bro, just calm down and let me finish writing this post and I have more throwing up to do myself, maybe I will do so in front of 1150 15th Street NW.

Few months ago some retarded old fart called Lynne "The Botox" Breaux, who is the president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington said, “DC is a world-class city with a third-class taxi system.”and Petula Dvorak added by saying:

"....That’s why it’s just kind of fun sometimes to take a cab, when I’m yearning for a trip to Cairo or wanting to relive the memories of a harrowing afternoon in rural China..........The rag-tag band of occasionally wretched cars that make up the taxi fleet in the nation’s capital hiked their rates again on Saturday......."

Listen, if you lived in this city long enough you know damn well that DC cabs in general came a long way and have improved a lot. With in the last ten years the fleets are becoming newer and newer, just go ask the folks at Bill Page Toyota! Hybrid Toyota cars are flying off the shelf, thanks to the Ethiopian cab drivers whom are the majority of cab drivers in this city. More cabs are accepting credit cards, majority of the drivers have driven in Washington for decades with full of experiences, all three major cab companies in DC are all GPS dispatched now and I can go on and on pointing out the improvements. All this said, I agree that there are some scumbag drivers out there who don't give a shit about their taxi operation. Ron Linton is trying to change the status-quo and it takes some time and he doesn't have a good qualified team at the Taxicab Commission to accomplish the tasks anytime soon. I don't necessary agree on all of what he is trying to do but he is doing something about it.

The fare increase is an important start, all the improvements that have been suggested would been impossible without the extra revenue. The fares were slashed by almost 30% in 2008 when they switched to meters and majority of drivers are struggling to survive with those cheap fare rates. Where were the cries for DC cabdrivers when the fares were slashed? And why would any passenger wants a driver who is overworked, underpaid and too tired to drive safely?  All the media coverage is bitching about the 44% increase on the mileage rate, but the math is not that simple folks. I don't have the time to break down the calculation for you but if you throw in the fare slash of 2008 and the extra charges that they have taken away now, the fare increase comes up to a whopping 0.80% per year since 2008! Comprende Petula Dvorak?

I have been to quite a few third world countries including Cairo and Little Rock Arkansas, there is no comparison between the third world and DC cab services like you and  Lynne Breaux claim it to be, it's not even remotely close. Petula, you are a typical ignorant douchebag, if you were trying to be a comedian please don't leave your day-job. Just try to invest five minutes to do a little research before you start typing! I just can't believe you're walking the same halls at the Washington Post with some of the greats like Micheal Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Eugene Robinson and Marc Fisher. Just keep on stealing the pay-checks for the garbage you put on the Post, in the mean while the days of cheap fares to haul your fat ass are OVER!!!

Lynne Breaux, how about addressing issues on some of the rat infested overpriced mediocre DC restaurants? Instead of sticking your wrinkled ass nose in our business, get some real work done.

Let me go throw up now,

Please don't forget the homeless,

Mad Cabbie.