Cambridge cabbies go on strike; shut down one side of Mass. Ave. Bridge

I wonder what all the people that would have taken those cabs did? *cough*UBER*cough*

To have all those cabbies screaming into the phone at their relatives back home in such proximity and going through the same cell tower? Pity anyone who needed to make an emergency call anywhere in the area.

Hey maybe if cabbies hadn't been screwing their customers over for decades they wouldn't be in this pickle now. Uber uber alles.

So the lack of available cabs inevitably pushes people to use Uber (some for the first time). People realize how much of a more pleasant experience it is for the passenger and never look back. Heckuva job, cabbies.

If cabs weren't such a third world quality experience, people wouldn't be clamoring to use a company that is undeniably pretty morally corrupt (but providing a higher quality service).

Who, exactly, thinks they are above the law?

Do they really think that nobody sees their marked vehicles parked over bike lanes, parked at hydrants, parked across bike lanes, blocking the roadway at hotels when the cab stand is full, obstructing driveways while the driver grabs a sandwich (rather than parking in an open space and walking), driving through red lights, etc.? I think a few dash cams would get that sorted out.

A while back when a protest was held and blocked traffic on 93, people were all angry and said that it was a public safety risk. The protesters were arrested and Lawmakers were pushing to increase penalties for blocking traffic.

Will the taxi drivers be punished for blocking traffic? They are putting public safety in just as much risk. They creating more traffic so ambulances and fire trucks can't get through.

You have the right to protest, but not the right to block traffic. These cab drivers really need to figure out a better way to get their message across. I used to use cabs, but switched to using Uber after I got annoyed at a protest last year where cab drivers honked outside my window for a couple hours.

See all comments above.

Also that time Ambassador tried to pick me up near the Aquarium (illegal) and refused when I told him I was going to Eastie (illegal).

Also, fun story relevant to the big picture argument: A few months ago, some flight delays got my GF and me home from a cross country trip a little after 1am. Usually I won't take cabs home from the airport because I live in the neighborhood and within relative walking distance to Airport station (albeit up a hill). I learned this lesson the hard way once when I took a red eye home from California, got in a little after 6am, and just didn't want to deal with the shuttles and the hill. The cabbie was a complete asshole the whole way, and while I sort of felt bad, I got to the point where I flat out just said "Dude, it's your job. Deal with it." So on this last trip, there was no way we were lugging all of our stuff up the hill, and knowing how a cab would respond to the short trip, I requested an Uber. The driver told me to wait in the designated pickup lot, where there were also a bunch of North Shore cabs and other car services waiting. One of the cab drivers asked if we were all set, and I said yeah. He paused a second, looked at me, and said "Oh, Uber" in a very condescending tone. I immediately shot back with "yeah, you guys give me a hard time about going to Eastie, so I don't bother trying to give you my business anymore" in a tone pretty much equivalent to holding up both middle fingers without actually having to, and he goes "Oh yeah man I HATE East Boston. Everyone hates going to East Boston man, use Uber" Now mind you, this wasn't a Boston cab in the normal line so I'm not sure what the deal is with Eastie for him unless he WAS a Boston cabbie at one point, because the return trip tolls into the city that they "can't" ask for are usually the issue.

TL;DR: This one time, a cab driver at Logan was condescending to me about using Uber until I told him where I was going, then told me to keep using Uber because they all hate fares to my neighborhood.

But I'm supposed to feel bad for them. Good times.

Stipulating that blocking any part of Mass Ave is abject stupidity, right up front...

It's the Medallion holders and the system that are the problem, not the cabbies per se. Most of them are working for the Medallion owners. And those guys treat the cabbies pretty much how they treat the public--like crap. Up until Uber it was a closed system and they could get away with it. Not now. And the non-owner drivers are getting screwed on both ends.

I drove a cab during the 70's in Boston. Dealing with the Hackney Bureau (BPD) and the Cab company was a truly Dickensian experience.

Government creates a racket: cab licenses. Cabbies pay the cab company that owns the limited licenses. Everyone profits from the government-protected industry.

Uber enables ordinary citizens to violate the law without much effort. The government doesn't step in to do much of anything about it. Cabbies and cab companies wonder where their highly valued protection has gone.

So, the protest and ordeal isn't about competition. It's about the government not enforcing its own laws. And enforcement would be very easy. You have a few cops start doing stings where they book an Uber and then request the person's cab license, paperwork, etc. After a few of those, nobody will want to risk driving for Uber.

OR you have government change the laws so that anyone can be a cab. Maybe even make a more progressive model where those people still have to pay fees to the state to remain legal so the cab industry doesn't become so unregulated as to be a free-for-all.

But this intermediate bullshit we have now, where we profess to regulate the cab industry but only some of the people driving others for hire are being regulated and the rest are free to do as they please just because they've become more popular or have provided the better experience, needs to end. The same goes for airbnb and any other "sharing" model that is literally just letting anyone break the law freely.

but in their parasite of an owner and his crew of social media Scientologists.

That being said, I see no issue with them operating in Cambridge because without a doubt Cambridge cab drivers are lower than pond scum. They're rude, they drive like maniacs and when you call them out on it, they think everyone in Cambridge is a Warren voter so they pull the old racist card out of their hats.

Yes, the medallion system is broken, but in this case I have more sympathy for a guy who is shelling his hard earned money out to drive for Uber, money that they will still have to pay if they get enough negative feedback and kicked from the system. And good luck complaining to either the Cambridge cops or cab management. Management will pull the old "we can't tell independent contractors what to do, let alone discipline them" routine.Cambridge cab drivers wouldn't even make it as Uber drivers, they're that rude and stupid.

This is just about as stupid as those white hippies blocking 93, claiming they were doing it for "black lives matter".

There's protesting, then there's attention whoring and thuggery. This isn't protesting.

Time to get rid of the antiquated medallion system, and just require safety regulations and certifications. The medallions are from a time before digital documents when that wasn't possible. Hell, there weren't even telephones when some of these systems were instituted.

And while I feel for the very few that bought a medallion and run a independent show, the system is utterly corrupt and captured by little cab fiefdoms that get away with terrible service, because what ya gonna do about it?

#HackLivesMatter

The issue here is that cab companies don't want to improve service. The cab companies could use the HailO app to do pretty much what Uber does and drive business to licensed cabs. I wanted to use the app many times but even though they said they had 1/3 of the cabs registered with HailO I could never get a car. That's when I switched to Uber. The last time I tried to call a cab company on a Thursday night they told me two hours for a pickup in Cambridge. Never again.

I see it this way, the consumer wants to call a ride from their phone using an app. Cab companies don't want to provide this service. Entrepreneurs will find a way to fill the service need.

The government needs to fix the system to allow for this service and it will force cab companies to play nice with the customer.

For all the fees charged by the RMV, MassPort etc. to be a legal livery/Uber driver, what service are they actually providing? Safety to the public? It actually seems like no value, just a tax on working.

This seems like the crime here.

What new technology/software are being developed at MIT Labs, Transportation Labs, AI Lab, Media Lab that Taxi companies can use to replace their out of date technology/software ?