boston cabbies are pissed

I read an article in Boston Magazine about how the Boston cabbies are lobbying for a bill of rights to protect them. And the people of Boston are lobbying for a stronger bill of rights to protect them. What's going on?

The Boston cabbies claim that they can't make any money. With Boston cab fares being the third most expensive in the nation, what gives? One major problem is the cost of the medallions. The going rate for a Boston cab medallion is $335,000, about the price of a studio apartment in Roxbury. Who can afford that? One cabbie recently worked 90 hours in a week and made $900. After paying the medallion owner, gas costs, and costs for the cab car, he was left with $90. That's $3 an hour. Is it worth it?

I have a strong hatred for Boston cabbies. Having taken too many cab rides in my time in Boston, I have been taken the long way home, the wrong way home, and one jerky cabbie once claimed he had no change for the twenty dollar bill I gave him on a twelve dollar cab ride. When I reported him to the Boston Cab complaint line, they told me I would have to come to their office for a hearing. Come on, I'm not going to do that over $8 that the cabbie stiffed me. Where's the incentive? And then there is the time that Steven and I were in a cab and the guy had no idea where he was going, yet decided to take the most congested roads to get us to where we were needed to be. When we yelled at him and got out of the cab (in the middle of the street) he chased us. We had to call the police.

I feel for the cabbies who aren't making money and the ones who get robbed and beat up. That's not cool at all. But I think there is a definite flaw in the Boston cab system. For example, cabbies should know the city better than anyone. And they should be able to understand English. Pretty simple, right? But nothing in Boston is ever that simple. And that's why I love that quirky city.