MA DUers: Anybody have the lowdown on the taxi voucher "scandal"?

[trotsky]

I posted this in the Mass. state forum but haven't gotten much in the way of a response.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=158&topic_id=810

Text of post:

The 'pukes I work with have grabbed this issue about the DNC wanting to "rip off" cabbies by forcing them to accept undervalued vouchers for conventioneers needing transport.

On the web I have found a TON of articles slamming the Democrats for this, but I did see that the final compromise guarantees the cabbies 3 passengers so the voucher total comes very close to what the normal fair would be for one trip.

So what's the whole story? Why would the DNC even engage in something this stupid that was BOUND to be harped on by Republicans?

Link with story: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/06/22/taxi_pact_is_reached_on_convention_fees

[Caution]

1. This is absolutely true

and absolutely the biggest crock of crap in "scandal" history. There will be an additional 50,000 people packed into downtown boston, all needing rides all over the city. So cabbie X only gets a voucher for $15 rather than the normal $20. Cabbie X also normally has 25 passengers in an 8 hour shift. During the convention Cabbie X has 150 passengers in an 8 hour shift.

25 x $20 = $500
75 x $15 = $1,125

Gee poor Mr. Cabbie.


Edit: number made up (i had hoped this would be obvious but i decided to clarify....the point is that even with a discounted rate this looks to be a banner year for cabbies

[trotsky]

5. That makes a lot of sense.

Hopefully they will make overall more money.

[bigbillhaywood]

2. Former Boston cabbie here...

Look, the DNC and the City of Boston struck a bad deal from the get-go. It will inconvience many city residents and workers. It will result in a net economic loss for the city. And since so much of the city will be shut down and highways blocked off, many will be unable to get to work. This means money out of people's pockets. My best friend works for UPS and he fears the shut down will result in a loss of hours for that week. The city and DNC certainly didn't care about economically damaging some damn immigrant cabbies. The only reason the cabbies got a decent deal is through a strike threat-- the only way workers ever get anything decent in this country or any other.

Just one more lesson here folks, as much as politicians (Republican or Democrat) claim they care about ordinary working Americans, the truth is that they don't give two shits about us. They just pretend to in order to win some of our votes. The DNC doesn't give a fuck if Bostonians are pissed, because they know MA is going to Kerry in any case.

I'm pulling the lever for Kerry too, but the DNC and Menino can both go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep working at building a viable alternative to these two corporate whore political parties. This system is broken. We need to build a new one.

[trotsky]

6. Thanks for weighing in, bigbill.

I had a feeling there was a little truth to that part, too. Sad, but true.

[htuttle]

3. Anyone ask the cab drivers how they feel about this?

I'll have been working in the taxi industry for 17 years (in 3 cities) this September.

When there are situation where there are clearly too many passengers for the number of cabs (as often happens during big events), I'd expect to 'split-load', which means to transport a number of unrelated parties to potentially different (but hopefully related) destinations for a discount. Happens all the time, especially during things like conventions and festivals.

It is very common for taxi companies to extend discounted flat-rates (which ultimately come out of the drivers' pockets) to any number of entities, such as hotels, hospitals, HMOs, etc... It's part of the cost of doing business. You take a hit on the individual fares, but if it keeps you busy, you'll make a bigger pile of dough.

However, it would behoove Democrats attending the convention to make up any discounts the driver had to eat by tipping well.

I'll repeat: TIP YOUR CAB DRIVERS, DAMMIT!!

[geniph]

4. I'm a delegate to the convention, and I asked our state chair about this

He said they've reached agreement with the cabbies (the three passenger per cab compromise - the cabbies will be allowed to refuse a single-voucher fare). It's the mayor that agreed to the vouchers without consulting the cab companies.

Many of us will be using the chartered shuttles for most of our transportation; I don't anticipate using cabs very much, except for the trip to and from the airport. They're providing us regular shuttle service via buses between the delegation hotels and the Fleet Center.

And I always tip cabbies well - my father, uncle, and two of my brothers have been cabbies (my uncle owned a small independent cab company). I know how close to the edge they live.