yellow fever: downtowners still sweating out the cab-flagging experience
Hailing a cab in Downtown Los Angeles can be a frustrating experience, even if you happen upon one cruising our congested streets.
When the Los Angeles City Council passed the “Hail-a-Taxi Initiative” last year, which allows cab drivers to pick up fares from curbside red zones without getting fined, many expected the cab culture to change right along with it.
As it turns out, however, old habits die hard. Many cabbies continued to hold out for cross-town trips to LAX or the Westside, waiting in queues at designated taxi zones for up to three hours at a time instead of cruising streets looking for fares.
The situation gets worse heading into the residential neighborhoods east of the central business district, including the Historic Core and Arts District, with nary a cab to be found.
It seems the culture of short cab rides around the Downtown area hasn’t kicked in yet — those trying to catch a ride from, say, the Financial District to Little Tokyo receive an earful because of it.
But there are signs of change — and cabs — on the horizon.
Back in December the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (BID) launched a new taxi awareness and education campaign. Nearly 500 informational signs were placed on light poles and other street fixtures, while drivers were persuaded to look for fares in a special “cruising zone” bounded by Temple Street, 12th Street, Main Street and the 110 Freeway.
According to the BID’s Senior Vice President Hal Bastian, “We’re seeing more cabs all over Downtown, but they’re still hanging out in front of the hotels.”
A ministerial action to extend the protocol for another year — February 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010 — is working its way through the City Council’s Taxi Cab Commission, and is expected to pass. Upon expiration the City Council will reevaluate the program’s effectiveness and impacts on traffic.
Still, challenges remain to make hailing a cab easier in Downtown LA, which requires a cultural shift for both drivers and passengers.
Said Bastian, “We’re pleased with the progress so far, but we want more people to hail cabs.”
How would you rate your cab-flagging experience? Let us know!
42 comments
i have no trouble grabbing a cab…no matter what the distance is. im sorry to hear about your challenges getting a cab. honestly, i find downtown cab drivers to be nice and courteous… perhaps you are hailing the bad apples of the batch.
good luck, nonetheless.
I agree with comment # 1, I’ve never had a cabbie get upset at me for taking a cab for a $6 – $10 fare. I take a cab about once every 2 weeks.
for the first time, i saw someone try to hail a cab the other day. older looking crusty black dude outside the stillwill on grand hailed as a cab drove by. cabbie slowed down towards the side of the road, looked at who was hailing him, swerved back into the road and gunned it through the red light as fast as he could.
if cabbies werent so rude, i would hail a cab on a regular basis.
It would also help if people hailed cabs correctly. I’ve seen people stepping into the street, practically into traffic (just north of Staples/Nokia complex on fig), and yelling at cabs who have their lights off and with passengers already inside. I don’t think the cabs are the only ones who need a little education.
Several years of habit will not be undone by six months of allegedly good intentions. The state of the cheap Hail-A-Cab signs are indicative of a mindset not unlike mayor tony v’s 2008 summer stunts of taking a brief ride on a rapid to the Red Line: an excuse to later exclaim that the respective agency (in this case, the DOT) “tried.”
Has anyone taken the time to read the poorly written copy on the signs? (If not, good luck; the advanced deterioration of the majority of the plastic, colour-laser-printed pieces of plastic-attached crap is considerable; I have been taking photos of the signs for some months now, having anticipated that the first bit of precipitation would quickly render them soggy and worse.) Had the parties responsible added “Save The Children!” or some other irrelevant catch-phrase, I doubt it would have been noticed. If anything, I can only be thankful that some hack of a copy-writer—perhaps recently fired from LAT—had a quick one-off gig, and penned that tripe after blowing his severance pay on Thunderbird and crack.
One would do well to recall DOT’s active campaign to stop one man’s attempt to introduce pedi-cabs (a form of conveyance which I usta pilot in the Village and Chinatown not so many years ago) immediately prior to the belated “Hail-A-Taxi” campaign. Not only did it provide an alternative to the motor vehicle problem in downtown, but it was yet another business endeavour that might have helped this provincial outpost be something other than some hip new digs for the new lofties who drive from the Historic Core to Ralphs in South Park.
As for me, I eschew the formal cabs for the ones that have long since dared to operate at all hours, in dark places and in such a fashion that has long eluded DOT and the bullshit rules. I recommend folk do the same, for it is a matter of weeks—if not days—before the TLC, er, DOT announces the failure of “Hail-A-Taxi” and Jan Perry (who is well compensated with a taxpayer-subsidised motor vehicle, as is some of her staff—like all L.A. city councilmembers) is long gone from having performed her cunning stunt to hail a taxi up on Grand.
The cabbies who provided service before they were coerced into it, are best appreciated this way.
The problem really starts with the cabbies.
On New Year’s Day a friend and I tried flagging down a cab on the corner of Figueroa and Martin Luther King, near the Coliseum after partying all night long at Together As One at the LA Sports Arena. Due to some unforeseen emergency at home, our ride had to leave early… leaving us high and dry with little option to get home. After a great night of electro-dance music with Armin Van Buuren dj-ing, my friend and I were in such great moods…we had such a blast! The highest of highs….but later our moods would change after finding out how hard it was to get a cab ride.
The cabbie stopped at the curb and asked us where we were headed, we told him Downtown (more specifically Chinatown where my friend had parked her car after a New Year’s eve dinner)…and just when we were about to get in the cab, he told us ,”sorry girls, I don’t do short distances..go try another cabbie”. Disappointed, we walked towards McDonald’s where some cabs had parked out front. One cabbie was just casually smoking his cigarette, leaning against the side of his cab… waiting to take cab fares. He smiled at us as we approached and asked “where are you ladies going?”..we thought we’d have a shot with him, but NOPE! After learning we wanted to go to Downtown, his tone suddently changed and gave us some fishy story…that he had just remembered he’s supposed to pick someone up in 10 minutes and head to LAX.. Yeah right! All of a sudden he remembers this?..Sorry, NOT buying it!! Why’d he forget in the first place? I guess our encounter with him, helped him snap out of his temporary amnesia? LOL. The time was 4:45 a.m. and here we were two girls in skimpy skirts, freezing to death trying to get home. yet we couldn’t even get a freakin’ ride?….Sure, several strangers approached us asking if we wanted a ride..but NOO WAYYY were we gonna get in a van full of strange guys. We tried one more cabbie to no avail and he gave us the same type of shtick . We were furious and totally fed up! So we decided to take the bus instead on Figueroa St. (actually at that point we had no choice but to take the bus). Due to the traffic jam caused by the Together As One event, the bus arrived nearly half an hour later then scheduled, but we were soo glad to see the bus arrive. We were freezing and cold, but the bus driver greeted us with a smile so warm that it made our temporary suffering go away…come to think of it, she was much more courteous than any of those cab drivers ever were!!! We were probably unlucky and just encountered the bad apples but who knows? I’m sure their are some good cabbies out there, but they were truly hard to find that New Year’s morning.
I have to say it is very frustrating seeing 9 cabs sitting in front of 7th & Fig all day long. They never leave…
They sit around talking to each other for hours on end. How do they even make any money?? I guess I would be grumpy and rude to passengers too if I sat around all day just to get one airport passenger..
I’m pretty sure one of the statements made on those signs is hailing a taxi is “green.” Can someone tell me how hailing a taxi is anymore green than me just driving to Ralphs?
My recent experience was during Xmas Eve day when I desperately needed to take a cab from Rite Aid on 7th to my apt in MacArthur Park.
I had shopped for gifts, groceries at Ralphs and other items and fully expected to “splurge” on a cab home since I had taken Metro to work that day. I had recently had a very bad car accident and was so tired and sore I waited in front of Ralph’s to see if a cab might go by so that I might not have to search for one. HA! What a joke! In typical LA fashion, a cab couldn’t be found if my LIFE depended on it (read the girls story above: been there, and completely understand) so I began to walk and struggle around the area to locate a cab.
After walking to the Macy’s Plaza I spied 4 cabs parked alongside the hotel. Two drivers were standing outside their cabs smoking. I sat my heavy bags down and shouted out a friendly hello with arms waiving to no repsponse. As I got closer to them I shouted hello again with arms waiving…nothing. I finally got close enough to say (not so nicely) “HI. DO YOU WANT TO MAKE SOME MONEY BY TAKING ME TO MY APT IN M PARK, OR NOT?”
Amazingly 3 drivers hopped to it…but the one who got my fare was the driver who loaded all my stuff into his trunk. After I asked him to.
LA is a taxi joke. I have lived here my whole life and never have taxi’s been a part of the lifestyle here. No matter how hard DT LA tries to get all NYC or SF…it’s going to take years to train people, neighborhoods, merchants, drivers, etc to act like a real city. I have hope, but this groovy “green” thing that the city spent taxpayer money to promote? Give me a break. Oh, and yeah, the signs look like some LAUSD student project. Another shining example of our city working together to waste our money. Don’t understand? Take a look at what they did to The Ambassador – another post-modern eye sore.
To clarify: The BID is a quasi-governmental agency that has a much smaller budget than DOT, which was not involved in the signage or awareness campaign. Most of their budget is spent on security and marketing for the neighborhood, so the 500 signs in the neighborhood were made with funds freed up from elsewhere. There’s no deficit operations at the BID.
Anyway, the signage was meant to be extremely temporary. I probably should have spelled that out in the post.
I have the solution to this problem. It’s simple, really.
Implement a flat-rate or hybrid system based on zones (something similar to DC). If you eliminate the greedy motivation behind hawking for good fares, you eliminate the problem altogether.
On a similar note, about a month ago I took a cab from Union Station to the 90041 ZIP code. It was 11:00pm, no traffic. Ride took 10 mins, tops. Fucking fare was $29. Yeah, see now that’s your problem right there.
Forget the taxis. I do hail cabs Downtown and have experienced both the good and bad. I’m all for the hail a cab initiative but how about allowing Pedi cabs to roam the streets Downtown, either along with or instead of the taxis? The general Downtown area is relatively flat and the distances are short, which is perfect for Pedi cabs. I mean, we certainly have the weather and terrain for it. No?
I’ve taken cabs from in front of the convention center to USC on football gamedays. It’s like a $7 fare, and I’ve even shared cabs with strangers also heading for the game (and not just SC fans). I’ve only probably done this 6 times in the past 2 years, and haven’t had any issues, even when it was obvious us passengers had just met and were trying to save $ by sharing a single cab. But I haven’t tried taking a cab back to downtown after the game ends. Friends who tialgate are nice enough to drop me off at 7th & Metro.
newwave stated: “I’m pretty sure one of the statements made on those signs is hailing a taxi is “green.” Can someone tell me how hailing a taxi is anymore green than me just driving to Ralphs?”
If you are alluding to the comments I made regarding the odd copy and the later analogy to Ralphs, please re-read the post. i was not even implying that one take a cab to Ralphs, just that it the copy was no less ludicrous than folk who drive there from a few blocks away. (if your query was merely a coincidence, however, please understand that I am merely exploiting the opportunity to offer some advice in general.)
Since you did pose a question, however, allow me to answer: Hailing a taxi may well not be any more “green” than driving one’s POV. (Granted, there may be many arguments on the finer details.) As such, a fine alternative—one I follow—is to walk. It ain’t that far from anywhere in town. (And by “town” I mean within the area defined by the four freeways: 5, 10, 101 and 110.)
^ Newwave was referring to the sign, which states “Be Green.”
Personally, I never take cabs anywhere and am much more inclined to walk and/or use the subway, DASH or Metro bus. Probably because I’m poor and would much rather spend my money on a cocktail.
The Hail-A-Taxi initiative will fail for the same reason that Flexcar failed. There’s simply not a market for hailing taxis. A handful of bar-hoppers, downtown bloggers, and the stray tourist or two are not enough to create a market where taxis are going to be driving up and down the streets looking for fares. I mean, I’m glad they got rid of the stupid rule that wouldn’t ALLOW them to pick up someone who was hailing them, but to expect taxi drives to roam the streets, waste gas and time looking for downtowners hailing them for a $10 fare instead of waiting in front the the hotels for tourists going to LAX is just silly. If you were a cab driver you wouldn’t do it.
Hail-A-Taxi won’t work until there are a shit load of people who need to hail taxis. That requires a densely populated downtown with an active street life and limited car ownership/use.
Rich stated: “^ Newwave was referring to the sign, which states “Be Green.””
Duly noted.
Seems to me that the best way to get a cab if you really want one is to call for one. I’ve always found that method to be successful.
Fred Caminno – spot on.
To me, the “Hail-a-Taxi” is the answer to a question on one’s asking…or way to few are asking. When LA’s downtown is like NYC’s or Chicago’s, LA’s taxis will be like NYC’s or Chicago’s.
Correction: To me, the “Hail-a-Taxi” is the answer to a question NO one’s asking…”
WORD!
a clever cab company would send someone out to sticker all of those bid signs with their phone # for calling a cab.
I think Fred hit the nail on the head – I am not sure there is a market for short-haul cabs.
One thing I’ve learned since moving to LA is how dependent the majority of people are on their cars. Before you get all over me I know there are a great deal of those who take public transportation and that’s great. However, the mentality in LA and the surrounding area is to drive, drive, drive. This is only one problem with the program (others being noted above and include the cab drivers themselves, and perhaps the lack of a flat-fare system).
If you are ever looking for a card game be sure to check out the taxi driver’s on 4th street – turn right off Fig (on the other side of the Westin). There is always a line of 10-12 cabs and their drivers playing cards on the hood of the car or the garbage can.
It’s not much different than it was before. Cabs would always pull over I was hailing a cab at night.
To #10, the cabs in front of Hotels like the Sheraton at Macys or the ones lined up in front of 7th and fig will only take you on long trips. That’s why they’re lined up. The cab isn’t going to wait in line 30mins just so he can take you on a $5 cab ride. That’s not hailing a cab.
If you can find one in downtown, call one up and they’ll come to your address in 10-15min
Get rid of the taxi zones.
Having to forcefully live under the extremely high cost fuels and all, living costs in general is totally out of whack… Nowadays we’re all about conserving and trying to pursue a environmentally friendly life style here’s my solution/suggestion it’s time to bring back “HORSE CARRIAGES”!!! I love the throwback era feel… Many Ranchers can’t afford to keep these animals and they’re getting rescued lots anyhoo… Better off buggy-ing people than getting euthanized. Plus it’s way “GREEN/ECO FRIENDLY” and fun alternative transportation. No new technology or engineering skills needed at all, all you need is some rescued healthy horses and some carriage!
“I say hail to HORSES!”
Then who will pick up the horse poo? Perhaps the horse poo can be recyled to add to the manure and fertilizer needed for the parks around downtown. Now that’s truly going green!
#12 I’m with you on the fares. I took a cab on new years eve from Hollywood/Vine to the Historic Core and the driver tried to charge me $46. When I inquired about the rates which stated it was $0.35 per 1/7th of a mile, or $2.35/mi., logic would tell you a trip less than 7 miles should be less than $20.00. I even noticed while we sped down the 101 that the meter was adding $0.35 about every 3-5 seconds. I had similar issues years ago when I live on the Westside. Cabs from LAX to my home were charging me in the ballpark of $40, and more than half of them didn’t know the intersection of Westwood and Pico. If you want to rip me off, at least know your major streets in the city. I love the suggestions of flat rates based on zone. It’s fair for everyone and would increase volumes for the cabs since people could guestimate their fare in advance and make an informed decision, versus paying out the nose for a 7 mile cab ride.
I’m with Jim – After we arrived at Union Station at 11 p.m. off the train from Seattle, we went through the entire que of waiting taxis to get us from Union Station to 6th/Main.
Finally, I called the dispatch and requested a cab. The dispatcher said that there was a que out front. I told her that everyone declined my fair. She asked that I ask again. Starting at the front of the line, I asked…the cabby declined again. The dispatcher asked me to read off the number on the side of the cab. I did that. Then, the cabby who had declined my fare had a magical change of heart and drove us home.
However – different story a couple of weeks ago. We used a cab to get back and forth from Church&State. We called for pick up both times…the only trouble…Mr. Cabby didn’t know how to get to Church&State…we had to give him directions.
Another possible solution: set up a new group of taxis and drivers who would only circulate within downtown and the immediate surrounding area. The cars would have a different color scheme. Since they wouldn’t be allowed to go to the Westside or LAX, etc., they’d have an incentive to constantly shuttle people around locally. Once people start to have more success hailing one of these new cabs, it should start working well.
Allow pedi-cabs to take up their slack. The competition couldn’t hurt. In L.A. (I’m native, not bitter) there’s always silly rules/concerns about safety or congestion but how many other metro areas have them without issue? I used one on the strip in Las Vegas–if that isn’t congested & hazardous, I don’t know what is.
Those janky signs scream FUCKTARDCITY all over them. Jesus. Wheatpasted 81/2×11 paper would look better. Fuck the taxis and this ridiculous program. Downtown is tiny. Walk it. Or if you really need a cab because you’re all Marsha Mason in the Goodbye Girl and don’t want your oranges to roll down the street, whip out your phone and just call.
Richard, when you have some time, you might want to make a taxi co. post. It would be visionary if it were sized so that it could be printed and cut out so we can slip it into our wallets or bootleg Coach purses from los Callejones.
I suggest we keep this in perspective. The only thing that has really happened here is that the law has been changed to allow cabs to legally stop to pick up a fare. It should take time for a cab culture to develop, if it ever does, but even if it doesn’t the option to do so need not be reversed at any time. Maybe in 25 years when downtown has 150,000 residents the cab thing may be more common.
They way things were before, it was illegal for a cab that you call (on the phone) to stop for you unless they pulled into a white or yellow zone, or a parking spot. Hail a taxi or not, this benefits everyone.
Finding a cab is the hard part. With the distance and time it takes to get one, you could have saved some money and taken a bus or sometimes even walked. I think it’s a promising program, but it will take some time.
I do like the idea of pedi-cabs and also specifically colored or labeled cabs. You could easily have a badge of honor on the cabs that signal it’s a local cab. Cabbies should also be more out in force after the bars and clubs start closing. You would think this is the primetime for cabbies to be on the prowl, but they aren’t.
I tried to hail a taxi from The hill..5 passed me by. I finally called one on the cell. In many other cities the taxi driver will actually alert others in the area that there’s a fare. With “gate’ charges for the drivers now so high I would think they would jump on a fare.
Christian
what ever happened to the pedi-cab idea anyway? that would have been more user friendly
“Just call”, you’re clearly a healthy, tech-savvy 20-something with a cell phone. That’s great: *you* have the ability to walk where you need to go, and the technology to summon transportation if you need it.
Ever try thinking outside your peer group?
I lived in London for several years and after hours, everyone took the night bus. We would all pile on the second floor drunk and hopefully not miss your stop after passing out. It ran all night and was better than paying for a cab. Its not hard for us Downtowners to take a bus anywhere we pretty much need to go since all roads lead back to our area. Its much more green and it runs all night. Its amazes me that people dont use it, when its actually a really good system that works! I take it when I go out, all the way down Sunset and go to my favorite bars, then we take it back, avoiding drunk driving and a DUI. Downtown needs a better transit within itself, but for those who leave the area should really reconsider it.
Just get into the cab first then tell them where you want to go. Why do you have to ask before you get in anyway?
@ Bert: Thanks for the perspective. Yes, the pilot program was primarily to lift this restriction. It seems the city has seen that it hasn’t caused any major problems, so they’re considering an extension.
In the meantime, it’s true! Cab drivers are not actually allowed to refuse fares. Yes, it’s quite unfortunate that they do — and I can’t imagine many people being eager to get in a screaming match about it.
If a cab driver argues with you, please file a complaint with the City of Los Angeles Taxi Services at http://www.taxicabsla.org or 1-800-501-0999. (Commendations are welcome too!) And, while we’re on the subject, make sure that your cab has the official “Dept. of Transportation” seal (see “Bandit Taxi” on their site).
The official report from the City’s Transportation Committee is here:
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2007/07-3989_rpt_btc_1-16-09.pdf
Looks like they are happy with it so far but understand that it takes a while to really get this, well, moving. Still have a few tweaks to make–including adjusting parking restrictions and increasing customer awareness…they are hopeful that it will be expanded to other communities within the year.