Adelaide... More sex attacks

2 More women have complained of sexual attacks/assaults that have occurred in recent times in Adelaide cabs. The article states there have been 5 attacks now since the start of 2007 following on from 21 attacks in the last 7 months of last year.

I really do feel for the legit honest cabbies that are trying to make a dollar in Adelaide at the moment. This time of year would be one of the busiest for them with the V8 Supercars kicking off their season at the Clipsal 500 event in Adelaide this weekend.

I was driving in Perth when the Claremont murders happened and almost over night our income dropped 50% on what it had been. Women sat in the rear of cabs shoved up against the rear doors trying to remove themselves as much as possible from the cabbie whilst still remaining in the car.

Mothers came outside to take my photograph standing in front of my taxi license plate while holding my Dept of Transport photo ID card. I’d jokingly ask them to email me a copy but I never got one.

Cabbies got DNA swabbed by police to ‘rule them out’ of the investigation.

Of course I realise murder and sex attacks are completely different crimes for one thing the police have a live person to talk to and a description of the person they are looking for which is a big help. But anyway you look at it 26 attacks in 9 months is shocking.

I just hope they catch the drivers responsible.

Here’s something else to think about. It will be the good cabbies, the ones that know where they are going, speak english and are an asset to the industry, it will be those cabbies that will leave because they simply can’t make a living any more if this drags on for too long and they are the very drivers Adelaide needs if they are going to rebuild and regain the trust of the public.

Fake Cabbie

Well I’m still not totally sure but it seems tonight I was picked up by a male person driving a taxi, who wasn’t actually a licenced and registered taxi driver. This person even explained the whole thing to me. He met a friend a legit cabbie it seems at his house and the cabbie wanted a drink. Our moonlighting friend declined and instead decided to make a few dollars on the side by driving his mates cab. From what I could see in the darkened interior of the taxi the id card on display didn’t match his face. But it was the fact he didn’t run the meter that initially raised my suspicions. I let them know at base when I booked the cab that I was a driver and the had obviously included that information on the job details as he asked me if I was heading to or from work when I got in. When we got to my destination I expected him to say something about forgetting the meter but he just said the fare was on him and don’t worry about it. Given my suspicions I didn’t complain and hopped out and went about my business.

Had he been the real thing I would have given him $10 even after the kind offer of a freebie as we all have to make a buck and he had done me a favour.

UPDATE: I just contacted the base supervisor and asked if my job had been picked up by the driver who accepted it thinking he might have rejected the fare or called a no-job but no he had run the meter to indicate pickup just not while I was in the cab …. Weird if you ask me!!

Duty of Care

Tonight I picked up a guy from outside a local pub. It was clear to me he was well tanked as he was slurring his words and talking in unrelated bursts. Anyway he requests the bottle shop drive thru and when we get there the attendant noticing his condition tells him sorry but I can't serve you alcohol. We leave there and I ask "Where to?" assuming he will head home but no he tells me to find him the nearest bottle shop as he still wants his block of cans.

Finally after driving around for a fair while and finding all 3 bottleshops in the area closed I took the guy home. But it raises the question. The bottleshop attendant has a duty of care under the law requiring him to refuse service to someone visibly under the influence, which he did. But where does that leave me? and what are my obligations under the law or the taxi act for that matter?

Do I blindly drive him wherever he wants to go or am I meant to tell him the best place for you is home you've had a skin full? Simply put my job is to drive people from point A to point B but we all know the law is anything but simple

Your only a cabbie

4 words that don't look like much on a page or a computer screen for that matter but damn if they don't make my blood boil when they are said in a derogatory and/or dismissive manner as they were Friday morning.

Yes I am a Cabbie should I be ashamed of the fact? Should I apologise for it? Sure I might not get to wear the nice suit or have lunch in the fancy restaurant and sure I don't have the ditsy but definitely good looking personal assistant and I'll never have the six figure income. But damn him I'm 'PROUD' of being a Cabbie. I'm 'GOOD' at what I do and hey he 'NEEDED ME'

So be dismissive Mr Arrogant and up yourself but remember this. When you needed to get somewhere I turned up and took you there and I did so efficiently, professionally, courteously and without treating you in the manner you treated me.

Signed

Only a Cabbie

Lost property and secret recordings

I picked up 3 young women tonight in their mid twenty's they wanted to go from Trigg to Cottesloe. Anyway after about 10 minutes 1 of them asks me for my cab number and promptly sms's it off to a friend. I thought that was a bit strange but she says she has a habit of leaving stuff in cabs and wanted to make sure she knew the cab she had been in so getting her stuff back would be easier. I suggested just checking the cab when she got out would be the smart option but it seems she is a serial loser of stuff in cabs. The tally was 8 mobile phones, 3 handbags, numerous sets of keys and sunglasses.

Anyway towards the end of the fare she says "Shit!, I've been video recording the whole cab ride since we left home. Everything we've said has been recorded and I've just sent it off to 'Beck" Now I'm not sure how to feel about this. I mean had she not sent it too her friend I would have asked her to delete it as I wasn't aware I was being recorded and didn't feel too comfortable about it.
Am I overreacting?? Conversations happen in taxis that would be inappropriate in another context but from what I can remember nothing was said that I should worry about.

What do yo think?? If your a cabbie how do you think you would feel being taped without your permission? I'd never even thought about it but with mobiles today it's certainly possible.

A daughter lost.

My thoughts go out today to FreddyBeach Cabbie.

Today is the 8th anniversary of the death of his daughter in an alcohol related traffic accident. Head on over to his blog site and take a look at the video he put together (I'm on dial-up it's not that big) She was very young and very beautiful

They say it gets easier with time but I hazard a guess there will be 1 less cabby on the roads tonight. All the best mate.

-: I drove like an idiot after dropping my last fare off this morning at the airport, trying to make up time between there and changeover with a fuel stop on the way,even thou at the time I knew it was stupid. Then when I got online and read the post by FreddyBeach Cabbie and watched the movie, I felt twice as stupid.

What have you done this past week in your car that was stupid, dangerous or foolish?? Maybe this is a good time to reflect on those things and make an effort to do less stupid, dangerous or foolish things behind the wheel.

Pedicabs

I have been seeing these 'Bail' style Pedicabs around Northbridge lately and never really gave them much thought I mean there not about to take our $25-$100 job market off us are they? It's more of a novelty factor something you would do for a bit of fun that is until last night.

Last night it was dead, so dead I did $57.50 in 4 hrs and had to take 5 jobs to make it!! Thankfully it did pick up and the night finished off much better but this story is about Pedicabs and last night they moved in on 'my' turf.

I drove past the Rydges hotel in hay st and saw not 1 but 4 Pedicabs. Have they got a license I wondered? Have they been given permission to park right outside 1 of the more popular city hotels ?? What really annoyed me is they were parked right outside the hotel and the taxi rank is 150 meters down the road from there. Last night I wanted every and any job I could get, even the little $7 one mattered.

So I've decided I need to give my dispatch a call in the morning and ask them if they have any knowledge of these Pedicab vultures. I don't want to shut them down but I would prefer it if they stayed out of the city and just worked Northbridge that's the place for something like this in amongst the bars and clubs and kebab joints.

Its funny how my attitude has changed towards them now it's January and work is scarce. I'll post up the response I get from dispatch tomorrow if I get the chance.

Below Par

Crap!! That is my assessment of this New Years Eve. It rates second in the list of crap New Years only missing out to the New Years of 1999/2000 when everyone thought the world was going to end because of the y2k bug and no one could agree if it really was the new millennium or if that started with 2001.

My best night in 2006 came in November before we had a fare increase and it was a weeknight I don't work Fri/Sat night and haven't for over 12 months. Well tonight after the fare increase which gave us 6cents a kilometer, 20cents each flagfall and 50cents on our phone booking fee and including the New Years Eve surcharge of $4.50 on each fare I only bettered my previous best by $6

I had time to go home at midnight for a toilet break and a coffee a luxury you just never get on a busy New Years Eve. If I had to estimate it I would say I should have made at least $150 more than I did and thats not ego talking or greed thats an honest estimate based on a good night including the extra $4.50 surcharge.

Part of it was the increased public transport that was put on something I support totally. It's about time people both customers and officialdom realise taxis can't cope with the huge peak demand that occurs at times like this and we can't be expected to.

The other problem was the media beating up the fact that taxis will be swamped and getting 1 will be nigh on impossible so make sure you have other arrangements. The trouble is they did. The trains left Perth packed while the taxis coasted around busy but far from flat out.

My take for the night was good don't get me wrong and any other night I would be more than happy with it. It's just that this was New Years Eve and I guess there just wasn't the sizzle that you normally expect. It lacked that total consuming edge to it that you associate with a good New Years Eve.

Tonight we have Perth Cup and 20/20 cricket at the WACA so it will be another busy night hopefully it will make up for last night. 1 thing I know, the extra transport isn't running.

ABC Taxis stuff up again

Following on from my previous post Wait Awhile I took a job tonight and when the customer got in he mentioned he was afraid he was going to miss his plane. It turns out he had rang ABC Taxis initially and after waiting 30mins had rung them back only to be informed they didn't have a taxi in the area. So he rang Goliath Taxis and was now finally on his way to the airport.

The problem was he had called the cab 1hr 45mins before take off. It should have been plenty of time right? By the time he got the brush off from ABC Taxis, called Goliath and I got there (I was 20 mins away) he was tight for time. I got him to the terminal just 30mins before take off and he still had to check in, get his ticket and make the gate before they closed it.

This had got to stop. His only mistake was calling the wrong cab company. I read today that Goliath has 84% market share leaving just 16% to ABC Taxis is it any wonder they can't cover the work? An hour and three quarters is plenty of time to call a cab and get from his house to the terminal and checked in etc with no stress. Instead the experience left him a bundle of nerves and as far from the relaxed traveler as you can get.

Do you think he will call them again?? Do you think the next time he needs to be on time for a flight he will call a cab?? Any cab? Not likely, he will ask a mate or family member for a lift then not just ABC Taxis but the entire taxi industry will lose out.

Something has to be done.

Wait Awhile

There is a real problem in Perth. It stems from the fact that 1 taxi company has the lions share of the cabs and the other has to put it bluntly bugger all. Now I don't have the numbers regarding exactly how many cabs are with each dispatch so I can't quote exact figures and believe me I wish I could but as a rough guide and from what other people have told me its something like a 1200/250 split.

It doesn't take a genius to work out there is a serious imbalance there. The problem comes from the fact that the smaller company lets call them ABC Taxis runs radio and tv ad campaigns to promote their business and uses a nationally recognised phone number and in other states of Australia actually runs a viable taxi service.

So what happens is people especially infrequent taxi users and out of towners here on business ring for a cab not realising the vast difference in size compared to the larger taxi company lets call them Goliath Taxis and they are then kept waiting often ringing back 2 or 3 times for up to an hour. Bear in mind we aren't talking about the known trouble spots of Armadale and Roleystone where it is more often than not going to be a while before you get your cab. The people I am picking up who are telling me these stories are ringing from areas such as Morley only 10kms east of the Perth CBD.

Take tonight for example. A lady who is over here from Melbourne on business rings ABC Taxis to pick her up from the Morley Galleria at approx 17:15 (5:15pm) After waiting an hour and calling back 3 times she tells the ABC Taxi operator to 'Jam your taxi, I don't want it anymore' and hangs up.

She then finds the number for Goliath Taxis and orders a cab thru them. As the telephonist is about to hang up she asks if it is at all possible to get an ETA as she has waited over an hour with ABC Taxis and really just wants to get back to her hotel. Not a problem is the reply the job has been dispatched and a car is on its way already. I was there 5 minutes after she placed the call.

The situation is so bad that ABC Taxis actually tells customers over the phone that they wont be able to get a taxi to them and gives them the phone number of Goliath Taxis!.

I drive for Goliath Taxis and make no bones about telling anyone who asks that ABC Taxis are a complete and total waste of time and there is only 1 company worth calling, then I give them one of our cards of which I carry a large supply.

The point is thou when someone calls for a cab regardless of the company they call and they are kept waiting for over an hour it reflects badly on the industry as a whole. How long are ABC Taxis going to be allowed to continue dragging down the image of taxis in Perth ?? and what is going to be done about it??

Leederville rank

I just want to say I was really impressed tonight when I noticed the changes that have been made to the Leederville hotel rank.

It used to be a 3 to 4 car rank with the usual problems of private cars parking behind and on it and generally making it difficult and at times impossible to get onto.

Well now it has been redesigned and I have to say to both the "Town of Vincent" and the "Taxi Council" a big "Thumbs Up!".

Exiting the rank is now MUCH easier and safer and it will go along way to reducing tension between taxi drivers and clubbers leaving the hotel.

You find it!

What is it with cab drivers that they think the passenger should tell them how to get to their destination even when they are new to the city and can't tell 1 end of town from the other??

What I am refering to is the increasing instance of passengers relating to me how a cabbie they were unfortunate enough to come across upon being told the destination has replied with "I don't know where that is" and then handed the passenger the map book!!

I'm sorry but that really gets to me. Isn't it the cabbies job to know where to go when asked and if he doesn't to find out?? You may think its the more unusual addresses they don't know or places we rarely get asked to go to but it's not. More than 1 driver I've heard of has asked his pax (passenger) for directions to the airport!!!

I'd say as a rough average I get taken to the airport 15 times a week and that doesn't include the times I might drive there empty looking for a job.

The other thing that amazes me is that people actually put up with this from their cab driver. I know at a private house it is a bit harder to send the driver away and call another cab as there will be a delay involved but at the airport or on a city rank where there is another cab waiting I tell people to get out and try the next one.

Imagine this, you've just arrived in Perth on business never having been here before, you get your bags and struggle out to the cab rank. Finally with your bags in the boot you settle back into the seat give the driver the address and expecting a trouble free ride to your hotel you start to relax. The driver has other plans, you suddenly you find a road map in your lap and the drivers telling you in no uncertain terms "If you want to go there you find it!" Welcome to WA!

This actually happened and when I heard the story later that same night I was gobsmacked. She had to find the address, then find the airport and then give directions to the driver. She then paid the fare and got out. As she was on business she paid with a company Cabcharge and I suggested she call Cabcharge in the morning and cancel it as he didn't deserve payment. Unfortunatley I'll never know if she actually did.

Please if you ever get a driver who thinks it is your responsibility not his to look up an address, take down his cab number then get another cab and make sure you report him to his dispatch when you get a chance. I take pride in the fact I know where I am going and if I don't I stop and check the map, I even pause the meter.