Hailing a cab was never so easy…
by Jen Chau
That is the thought of New York Times Week in Review writer, Calvin Sims. He remembers that just several years ago, it was much tougher to hail a cab, being a young black male. He wonders if it has to do with law enforcement, the fact that drivers are less discriminatory, or because he is less threatening now that he is a bit older and “well-dressed.”
Now, my friends and I look more mature than we did 10 years ago and, if I dare say, we dress better, which may account for our newfound taxi-hailing success. But numbers make me think that something else may be going on. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission’s “Operation Refusal” program, in which undercover officers of different races randomly hail taxis, found in its most recent study a 96 percent compliance rate among cabbies. The commission says the compliance rate has grown consistently since the program was instituted in 1997, when it was 88 percent.
“It’s a better climate today for everybody in the city to catch a taxi than it was back then, no matter what your race,” said Matthew W. Daus, the city’s taxi commissioner. “Drivers realize that the person they refuse to pick up could be an undercover officer and that has reduced the temptation to discriminate.”
Ah, no reason to get happy people, “progress” has been made due to fear of repercussions. 
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Kaywil wrote:
I’m glad the police are doing their “job” by protecting all citizens, not just the select few…even though it’s sad that they had to enforce the changes…but however it comes, it’s welcome…
Posted 17 Oct 2006 at 8:57 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Heh. So this is what traffic cops do in NYC
I’ll say this, I don’t mind why cabbies have improved service. It’s one of those necessary phases of moral understanding: ideally, first you obey the rules because you fear punishment, and eventually (hopefully) you obey the rules because they make sense, have been internalized, or have been proven to be for the common good.
Posted 17 Oct 2006 at 10:56 am ¶
MizuWari wrote:
“…Ah, no reason to get happy people, “progress” has been made due to fear of repercussions. ..”
ha ha ha…you KNOW?
Nothing in the universe gets a person to straighten up and fly right faster than someone with bigger cojones standing over you who has the authority to KICK YOUR ASS.
I’m not complaining, though. It’s not like I’m asking the cabbies to invite me over for Thanksgiving dinner, even though all the years I’ve ridden in taxis, I’ve had a myriad of interesting individuals talk to me about all sorts of incredibly deep things from behind the wheel. We’re all humans needing that little connection with each other, in whatever way we can make it happen for however long, I figure. Too bad the fares are a mite too draining for me to use them like I used to, with the exception of when I’m too bombed to ride the subway safely.
Posted 17 Oct 2006 at 1:55 pm ¶
MizuWari wrote:
“…Ah, no reason to get happy people, “progress” has been made due to fear of repercussions. ..”
ha ha ha…you KNOW?
Nothing in the universe gets a person to straighten up and fly right faster than someone with bigger cojones standing over you who has the authority to KICK YOUR ASS.
I’m not complaining, though. It’s not like I’m asking the cabbies to invite me over for Thanksgiving dinner, even though all the years I’ve ridden in taxis, I’ve had a myriad of interesting individuals talk to me about all sorts of incredibly deep and personal things from behind the wheel. We’re all humans needing that little connection with each other, in whatever way we can make it happen for however long, I figure.
Too bad the fares are a mite too draining for me to use them as freely as I used to back in the day, with the exception of when I’m too bombed off the Devil’s Water to ride the subway safely.
Posted 17 Oct 2006 at 2:14 pm ¶
merq wrote:
I’m also what the author would define as “well-dressed,” and I still get passed over like 40% of the time.
But then again, I’m 6′6″. I guess that’s a little too much “black” for some to overlook, regardless of attire.
(Point?: clothing means very little in this debate)
Posted 17 Oct 2006 at 7:27 pm ¶