On Taxis and Winter Traveling

Thanks to a taxi ride up to Stop & Shop in the Watchung Square Mall, I got to experience what car owners are dreading this winter - potholes and snow-clogged streets that make driving a nightmare due to fear of accidents and expensive repairs.

City streets were bad enough, but as the taxi crossed Route 22 to the mall entrance, cars slowed to avoid a big pothole, leaving the last ones trailing across the highway.

The ride home was hectic and hair-raising for even more reasons, as the driver detoured east to Terrill Road and attempted to pick up fares at Sears and Popeye's. Extreme honking produced no fares, however, and we were off - not to Park & Seventh, but around various streets to pick up more fares. The first was on Front Street, where two men emerged with huge laundry bags that they started to wedge in over our groceries. The driver had them reload the bags into the front seat, with one guy alongside and the other in the back of the van.

Another stop, more honking, and out came a couple who jammed in. The driver had meanwhile turned down a woman, with a baby and a toddler, who tried to hail the taxi from the street. He told her to call the dispatcher, but she said she had no telephone.

All this took a lot longer than we expected, but finally we got home and the helpful driver managed to drop one bag into an icy puddle in the driveway.

"It's only water," he said, handing over the dripping bag.

The whole thing reminded me of how taxi regulations are honored in the breach in Plainfield. Drivers are supposed to ask passengers whether they mind having additional fares, for one thing. I have had the experience of catching a taxi in time for an appointment straight down Park Avenue, only to have someone else get in and then finding myself sitting in the parking lot of a totally unfamiliar mall in another town. The extra passenger hopped out and then the driver realized he had a flat tire. A Good Samaritan helped him out, as he didn't have the right equipment to change a tire. I finally arrived at my destination, more than a bit flustered.

It seems all the taxis charge a flat $4 fare to go anywhere in Plainfield, even though the rate card lists senior discounts and differentials depending on the distance within the city. But perhaps because the taxis largely serve a low-income population that depends on them, few patrons bother with sticking up for the rules.

From the Municipal Code:

Sec. 9:15-45.  Carrying passengers by direct route.

A driver shall carry a passenger to his or her destination by the most direct and expeditious route available unless otherwise directed by the passenger.

(MC 1988-6A, §1, April 25, 1988.)

See. 9:15-54.  Additional passengers.

    (a)     Unless the person first employing the taxicab shall consent, no additional passengers shall be picked up or permitted to ride in a taxicab on the same trip.

 (MC 1988-6A, §1, April 25,1988.)

See. 9:15-57.  Rates of fare.

    (a)     Any person owning a taxicab and any person licensed by the City to drive or operate any taxicab for hire shall be permitted to charge up to, but not exceeding, the rates set forth in this Section.

    (b)     The City is hereby divided into zones, denominated as A, B, C, D, and

E as the same are delineated on the map included in and made a part of this

Article.

        (1)     For citizens fifty-five (55) years of age and older, the rates which may be charged within each zone are as follows: Zone A: $2.50; Zone B: $2.75; Zone C: $2.75; Zone D: $3.00; and Zone E: $3.25.

        (2)     For citizens less than fifty-five (55) years of age, the rate which may be charged within each zone is as follows: Zone A: $3.00; Zone B: $3.25; Zone C: $3.25; Zone D: $3.50; and Zone E: $3.75.

    (c)     A passenger traveling within one (1) zone shall pay the fixed rate for that zone.  A passenger traveling from one zone to another shall pay the higher of the two (2) rates, regardless of starting point or destination. A passenger traveling to a border street of two (2) zones shall pay the higher zone rate.

    (d)     Notwithstanding the foregoing, anyone traveling from Zone D west of Clinton Avenue to Zone C east of Leland Avenue, or vice versa, shall pay a fare of $3.50. Anyone traveling from Zone E. to Zone D east, or vice versa, shall pay a fare of $4.00.

    (e)     Additional passengers. In all zones, the first additional passenger traveling to the same destination shall pay an extra fare of Fifty Cents ($.50). Each subsequent additional passenger shall pay an extra fare of Twenty-Five Cents ($.25). If the first passenger has agreed to shared riding with persons traveling o a different destination, each additional passenger shall pay the full rate chart fare. A baby in arms shall not be considered an additional passenger.

    (f)      Each stop of five (5) minutes or less requested by the passenger carries an extra charge of Twenty-Five Cents ($.25). A charge may be made of Twenty Cents ($.20) for each parcel when said parcel is carried from the store to the taxi and from the taxi to the home by the taxi driver at the request of the passenger (or vice versa).

    (g)     Rates for local calling and shopping service shall be One Dollar and Fifty Cents ($1.50) per quarter hour or part thereof.

        (1)     Fifty Cents ($.50) on all fares between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

        (2)     Fifty Cents ($.50) on all fares (in addition to the nighttime premium) on the following holidays:  New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

        (3)     Fifty Cents ($.50) trunk charge for large appliances or baggage in excess of fifty (50) pounds.

(MC 1988-6A, §1, April 25, 1988; MC 1989-17, §1, October 2, 1989; MC 2000-16, §1, August 7, 2000.)

While it was my choice not to buy another car when the last one died, my guess is that most passengers simply have no other means of getting to stores, laundries and medical appointments. Passengers sometimes play games of their own, such as calling two or three taxi services and taking whichever one shows up first. But by and large, they are victims more than perpetrators of abuse of the rules. Because the clientele tends to be of a demographic that is nearly voiceless in public discourse here, their troubles are overlooked and will remain so without more self-advocacy or help from the government that set these rules.

I wrote about taxi rules way back in 2008 after I gave up my car (see post here). Interesting that nothing much has changed since then.

--Bernice