TAXI DRIVERS & FAIRNESS
In the mid 1960’s I went to work for the Western Union Telegraph Company in Syracuse. City Taxi, located just around the corner was our after-hour agency. As such I made many friends in the Taxi business.
In the 1970’s I decided it would be a great idea to get a Taxi license and have worked off and on in the business for nearly 50 years. There is sad irony associated with the Taxi business. It is work that requires healthy, intelligent, mentally agile, kind and good people. I have known hundreds of drivers over the years and with exceptions actually less than in most other professions, these qualities have always held true. Yet for some undefinable reason Taxi drivers are viewed in a light that does not measure up to who they are. I have heard little discussion about the scope of their plight and the damage done to their businesses, careers and families. 
Some really good people and reputable companies are affected by the retention of many policies that in the age of Uber and Lyft are genuinely unfair and obsolete. I thought I would write about this as the unfairness is just wrong. The Taxi licensing bureau cannot tell you why this regulatory disparity exists between local Taxis and ride sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. As well those in charge of costly Police oversight that applies only to Taxis cannot honorably explain their mission. They should be particularly concerned as they are required to enforce one law for Taxis and another for ride sharing company’s which are simply Taxis.
No one can explain why this has not been addressed. Drivers and Taxi companies have made City Hall very aware yet there is still no champion. I cannot help but wonder: What if a private Police Force or a Private Fire-Fighting company came to Syracuse, taking jobs and leaving remaining local Fire and Police buried in regulation that does not apply to the interlopers? I think this would be addressed with fervor and fairness would quickly apply including all forms of compensation for losses. This is why I wrote the first paragraph as it is. No one seems to think Taxi drivers are that important. In view of the grave wrongs in place the Taxi profession should not just be listened to, but heard. It is my hope that elected official will agree that this nearly powerless group has been left behind.
No effective effort has been made by any City officials to pursue new, equal and fair regulation in keeping with the authorization of these ride sharing companies in Syracuse. The City retains a licensing bureau where local Taxi Drivers are required to secure or annually renew a costly Taxi license. Accumulated costs are about $300.00 plus renewal fees with serious unalterable, regardless of circumstance, exorbitant late fees. I queried the licensing section and was advised late fees are fixed and unalterable even if you are one day late and regardless of the validity of your reason. This is simply cruel enforcement esp. considering you must apply two weeks before your license expires. That attitude in itself is reflective of how Cab Drivers have been treated in Syracuse. Taxi’s are subject to costly registration fees and annual rigid inspections with requirements that Uber and Lyft do have. Apparently, Uber and Lyft have shown these requirements not to be necessary and to be unfair burdens on local Drivers and Companies.
Syracuse Taxi Drivers are subjected to stringent policies that Ride Sharing drivers are not. Drivers must pay a $50.00 fee for their license. Renewal is $50.00 annually, plus photos and needed physical updating. If you do not apply for renewal 10 days in advance you are charged an additional $25.00. No variables even if you have good reason. They do this because they can. Syracuse Taxi drivers must pay for and be fingerprinted, and they must pay for and secure a physical signed by a Doctor. They must pay for and secure photos. Local drivers must have a Class E chauffeur’s license endorsement on their Driver’s License. This makes it legal to carry up to 15 passengers and drive vehicles up 26000 pounds. Taxis must be inspected annually by the City police department. It takes for to six weeks to acquire a license including license section processing time, and that is providing you can get a timely physical scheduled.
Ride sharing companies do not require a physical, they do not charge a License fee and a renewal fee and late fee, they do not require a chauffeur’s endorsement, they do not charge for fingerprinting and their vehicles are not inspected. (a 10-year-old vehicle with pictures suffices). Ride sharing companies are not required to carry a Taxi License as are local Taxi’s. They have no City Licensing section and they are not regulated by the Syracuse Police Taxi Section with zeal in which Taxi Drivers and Companies are. Uber is a far more dangerous venture for the Public yet they exist with far less (almost no) local oversight. There is virtually no local human participation outside of the driver that views or reviews their local activity, drivers or vehicles.
As such I believe it would be a good idea for Police to be required to record and report Ride Sharing Accidents and Criminal Activity. Separate statistics should maintained. I don’t know how else unknown criminal and safety patterns can be identified.
For fairness to be, the entire Taxi License section and their duties must be reviewed and compared to Uber and Lyft. The Syracuse Police Department Taxi Section should be completely reviewed as well. Such comparative review would show these to be total redundancies applying to Taxi’s only, and for fairness to prevail should be closed. The Police Taxi section is an obsolete section tasked with unfairly profiling and burdening local Taxi’s and enforcing stringent regulation on them, while ride sharing drivers and companies go barely noticed. You will find the ride sharing companies receive almost no scrutiny while Taxi’s have always been required to meet stringent standards with stringent oversight including inspections and ticketing and licensing. Only by carefully reviewing and coming to understand current oversight in both of the City and Police oversight sections can you get a picture of the extraordinary unfair disparities between Syracuse Taxis and Uber and Lyft Taxi’s.
I strongly urge the Mayor and the Common Council to secure in writing from independent drivers and local companies a list of the disparities and unfair application of oversight that applies. New regulation could be drafted from this vital information. (which will closely parallel this article)
I also urge a review of City regulation that governs unexpected loss of work and careers and perhaps develop recompense for the those in the Taxi industry that silently suffer with their lives shattered as a result of Ride Sharing Companies.
I say the following from the heart as I already know the intent of this column will be reviewed and respected.
City Hall, something like Washington D.C. was poisoned for eight years during the previous administration. A sense of cruelty permeated the Hallowed Halls each day. It was a sad era and many were unduly harmed. This is a new day. The sun is shining on our great city. True patriots once again walk the Hallowed Halls of 233 East Washington Street. Course has been reset and the potential under this new leadership is full not just of hope, but hope that will reach fruition. I wish the Mayor and his administration the very best in all that they do. The best to the new Syracuse Leadership as you forge our path to the future.
