Surviving

If a distinguishing feature of taxi drivers is the automatic ability to maximise a fare, then I’m not your typical cabbie. Fare exploitation requires practise and confidence, plus a certain brassy insouciance when challenged. Yet some passengers are their own worst enemy, carelessly granting drivers free choice over the route.

A classic example of the most efficient route involves the use of toll roads. On Saturday night in Chinatown I collected some country visitors for Potts Point. From the start my passengers chatted amongst themselves, oblivious to what lay ahead; a journey which normally takes ten minutes could be a thirty minute crawl due to thousands of revellers heading to Kings Cross.

When I suggested using the Cross City Tunnel they automatically baulked at the $3.50 toll, a natural reaction from people unfamiliar with Sydney’s heavy traffic. Until promised they would be saving some ten dollars and twenty minutes by avoiding the midnight peak hour.

When it’s really busy drivers look to maintain a high turnover of fares in order to exploit the $2.90 flag fall. The more flag falls the better. However on quite nights drivers will generally cruise with fares, extending the journey whenever possible. After all, they'll insist, why sacrifice extra dollars simply to rush back to empty streets.

Last night a fella climbed in and ordered Granville, out near Parramatta. "I don’t care which way you go," he said. "Anzac Bridge or Parramatta Road, whatever you like." This was no real choice as I automatically prefer a clear run using the available toll roads.

With the meter showing $43 upon arrival he remarked on the low total, claiming he’s often paid an extra $10-$15. These fares would be achieved by using Parramatta Road with it’s lower average speeds and multitude of traffic lights. But travelling on a company account he didn’t care to rush home to an empty apartment and was glad of the company.

Unlike another passenger during the rush hour last night when a woman ordered Neutral Bay. Choosing the front seat she immediately demanded her desired route, nominating every street. And who would argue with a Supermum rushing home at 7pm, especially after listening to her check-in with the children, the nanny and then her husband. As a result she got the cheapest, most time-efficient fare possible under the conditions.

This is the way I naturally like it, as when off-duty. To drive otherwise is frustrating, tiring and dangerous in allowing the slowest traffic to dictate one’s journey. Surviving Sydney’s traffic requires flowing with the prevailing pace, even if it means flouting the posted speed limit. Whether in my cab or private vehicle, I find it’s the only way to drive.

Comments

[Zhasper]

Thanks!

I've been wondering whether drivers preferred short trips or long trips.. and now I find out that it's more complex than one or the other.

I love your blog - it lets me see life from the other side of the perspex...

[forman]

you have captured all the thoughts that have run through my head when i was hacking. yes truely more complex than most give credit for.

[Nat]

You can get away with treating your passengers like marks in a big city. You'll probably never meet them again.

In a country town or a medium sized city you run a good chance of running into the same passengers again and again. So you can't get away with being dishonest about taking the long route.

I would think that your country passengers are probably just playing the game this way and aren't expecting to be taken for a ride by a big city cabbie.

[Invig]

As they say, Canberra is a big country town, and i took great joy in bitching to one cabbie about another who had tried to rip me off (in the company of a lady friend)

Right from the line-up, a U-turn through civic's busiest streets when the main drag straight to the Art Gallery was right there in front of us. Probably an extra 5 minutes on a 5 min journey.

But i let him know how I felt. A lot. And my friend ended up giving him balance of the fair that i refused to pay as i threw ten bucks on the front seat (11.50 fair) and said 'keep the change'.

robbery, stupid, whatever - the guy was an arrogant (afghan) prick.

[issy]

i only get shirty when i specify a route, and the the driver (deliberately) goes a different way without asking... especially when it's not peak hour and there's no traffic to speak of. (yes, this has happened to me, on a trip to the airport early in the morning)

i am more than happy to consider another route if the driver asks or explains why before taking it, but if they just deviate with no explanation i think that's rude.