Sunday, February 22, 2015

Does Plainfield Need More Taxis?

Sunday's afternoon sunshine inspired me to try for an outing before the next onslaught of frigid weather. The wind and cold had damaged my skin, so I figured I could take a taxi to Walgreen's for some remedies and be back within an hour.

Wrong. I called a taxi company at 2 p.m. and the dispatcher gave me the standard, "Right away," so I stood outside and waited. And waited. I called back and got another "right away," but in taxi time it was 40 minutes before a cab showed up, with a man in the passenger seat and a mom and two children in the back.

After dropping everyone else off, the driver took me to Walgreen's, a four-minute ride according to Google maps but now much longer than that.

I enjoyed browsing the products for dried-out winter skin and after some eye-rolling at the prices, made my selection. Oh yes, my other mission was to pick up batteries for my "Breezy Singer" mechanical bird, a Yellow Warbler whose jaunty song makes me forget my troubles.

Outside the store, I began dialing for a taxi. After six calls to one company and 11 to another yielded only busy signals or no answer, I had to face the fact that I was just not going to get a taxi ride home. So off I set on foot, sloshing through melted snow and defying some still-icy mounds at corners until I got to Block 832. I did not quite match Google's estimate of 27 minutes for the 1.3 mile trek, but considering the conditions, it was close enough.

Adding this event to my December 22 incident (45 minutes for a taxi, just too late for the medical appointment I had scheduled four months prior) and fellow blogger Jackie's recent Facebook anecdotes about taxi problems, I came to the realization on my trudge home that maybe there just aren't enough taxis here.

The number of taxis is governed by an ordinance that says there can be one for every 1,000 residents as counted in the most recent Census. From the Plainfield Municipal Code:


Sec. 9:15-14.  Limit on number of licenses issued.


    (a)     The number of taxicab licenses issued and outstanding at any one (1) time shall be no greater than the proportion of one such license to each one thousand (1000) of population of the City, as shown by the last official United States census, but in no event more than sixty (60).
(MC 1988-6A, §1, April 25, 1988.)

The formula may work for places where most residents own cars, but the difference here is the large Latino population that does not have cars. Many get to work in vans and buy groceries at stores that offer transportation, but by and large they need taxis to get around. The driver today asked me whether I lived in Plainfield, as he said he seldom gets a "white" passenger.

"They are mostly Latinos," he said.

I have lived here since 1983, but had a car until 2008, when I decided to do without one. I walk or take public transportation mainly and, like many others, also counted on the late Rasheed Abdul-Haqq to take me to the airport or far out of town for medical appointments.

After the fiasco in December, I wanted to find out how many taxi companies and taxis are operating here, but the bad weather has held me back. I heard that two had shut down, though one is back on the streets. 

But if the population in 2010 was 49,808 and it was 40 percent Latino, that is close to 20,000 people. There were 16,621 households, with presumably more than 6,000 being Latino. Even assuming a large percentage of car owners, can others with travel needs really make do with 49 or fewer taxis? Holidays, bad weather and other factors intensify the demand. I am retired and have only a few places I must go, but Jackie has described increasing problems getting a taxi to the train station this winter to go to work.

This issue needs more fact-gathering and discussion, but it does warrant examination. The local ordinance dates back to 1988. In 1980, the population was 45,555, with 27,420 black, 18,135 white and 3,291 Spanish-speaking residents. Times have changed. I thought I had been told the taxi formula was mandated by state law, but just now I found it is up to the municipality, according to legislation Gov. Christie signed in 2011.

In 2014, Hoboken, with a 2010 population of 50,005, set the number of taxis at 70.

People who agree that the city needs more taxis should speak up. The next City Council meetings are 7:30 p.m. March 2 and 8 p.m. March 9, both in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.

--Bernice


8 comments:

  1. There should be a panel/commission/focus group on taxis here in Plainfield. The 2 times I've ever called for a taxi it was painfully too long and I could almost have walked there just as fast by the time they arrived.
    There should be more taxis allowed and considering the number of issues you've mentioned, previously as well, some competition from outside Plainfield might be the answer. Everything from rates charged properly, additional passenger pickup, parking issues ( why why why they insist on double parking even when they absolutely DON'T need to is beyond logic ) , safety and standard violations, could all be solved by simply saying.. "Ok... too many complaints..we're letting the taxi companies around Plainfield come into the city to pickup passengers."

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  2. Hell no the ones we got are a public safety issue. We need to have a grading system for eateries the health dept in plfd is a JOKE!!!!

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  3. After thought we can catch a taxi to stenders cookout this summer. Our local rep oh I forgot we don't know where she lives.

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  4. How much would a taxi cost to Manasquan? Maybe an Uber would be cheaper. Very, very interesting. New dems cry foul all the time with Jerry, but here is a person who may have broken the law and NEW DEMS are mum. Can I say deal?

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  5. An Ordinance written in 1988, almost 30 years ago, should be subject to review and possible revision. Laws and regulations must be adjusted with changes in life styles.

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  6. Speaking about taxis… why is no one talking about the Stendergate. There's a local state representative possibly living outside of the district and everyone is silent? That’s really weird. Had it been Jerry, Rebecca would have been all over this. Political as usual I guess.

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    1. Go on with your off-topic self. Why aren't people using a hyperlocal blog post about taxis to talk about Syria or whether Greece will shape up. It's really weird.

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  7. One taxi driver told me that the reason for the crackdown on cabs from out of town picking people up in Plainfield is that the Plainfield taxi companies calls were being "stolen" and the out of town cabs were showing up and picking up the Plainfield calls first. The taxi companies then somehow put pressure on the police to enforce the ordinance.

    If they can put pressure on the police to enforce such an ordinance, why can't the people have the same power over other taxi-related ordinances? (Such as a senior discount, no other passengers, direct route, etc.)

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