Earlier this week, I noticed a New Orleans taxi driver using Twitter to confront Mayor Landrieu regarding the required taxi upgrade that has left hundreds of cab drivers unable to operate during Super Bowl week. Apparently, while catering to the NFL, Landrieu's administration has been unable to adequately staff the inspection station and issue permits for updated cabs.
These cab drivers have been on my radar since September, when I saw many New Orleans cabbies circling City Hall honking their horns to protest new regulations that required expensive upgrades including the addition of credit card machines, GPS devices and security cameras that made me think of Trapwire.
Late this morning, I went to the Taxicab & For Hire Vehicle Bureau Inspection Station on 13400 Old Gentilly Road. Interestingly enough, the location and hours had been posted on the City of New Orleans' website earlier this week, but on February 1, the address was no longer available (the website was updated January 31, 2013).
The Gambit's Charles Maldonado just posted a great article about his experience today at the inspection station here.
After driving all the way out to the location, I confirmed that the NOLA cabbies who did upgrade their taxis have not been able to obtain the proper permit to operate during the Super Bowl because the City of New Orleans only has two employees on staff to inspect the upgraded cabs. Moreover, it takes about twenty minutes per inspection, and the inspection station on Old Gentilly Road is neither open five days a week nor open for eight hours on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. The line barely moved while I was there.
Most of the cab drivers seemed happy I was there to support them and were eager to discuss the fact that they'd waited in the inspection line on Monday and Wednesday but were forced to leave when the station closed. Several also explained that they are charged late fees despite the fact that they arrived as early as 5:30 a.m. However, when I asked if I could quote them, a few shrank back in fear.
This fear of retaliation kept most of the cab drivers from agreeing to interview on camera, and I respectfully only recorded the one driver who agreed to be filmed.
Part 1 Interview
Part 2 Interview
One cab driver who did not give his name wondered whether the fact that the largest company, Carriage Cab, refused to stand up to Mayor Landrieu paved the way for the lack of a voice the smaller companies and drivers now feel.
Another driver said someone should tell Mayor Landrieu that the cab drivers need to be issued a temporary permit to operate during Super Bowl week (I'd include Mardi Gras there too), reimbursement for late fees accrued while waiting in line at the inspection station (I believe the fees are 2 dollars per day), and monetary compensation for lost wages.
Yet another driver claimed to have missed at least eight days of work while updating his cab and waiting for the inspection. He explained that the cab drivers fear speaking out because if they go to renew a permit, the city could retaliate by denying that permit, or their cabs could be targeted by NOPD. So thick was the fear of retaliation that a few drivers asked me to refrain from photographing anything near their specific cabs.
Obviously, New Orleans and Kenner taxi drivers deserve better than the treatment they're receiving from the Mayor and City.
The cab drivers most certainly need a voice, and with mainstream media's attention focused on the Super Bowl extravaganza, this weekend will be interesting.
Thankfully, the ACLU's lawsuit against the City of New Orleans has made it legal to hold signs in the Clean Zone, so it will be possible for activists to raise awareness regarding the injustice inflicted upon these NOLA cabbies.
On a side note, I'm confident the embarrassing Nawlins Cab App (complete with Yat accent) is not exactly the remedy the cab drivers have in mind.
~ small affair
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Some background.
In September, I saw many New Orleans cab drivers circling city hall honking their horns to protest new City regulations that required expensive upgrades including the addition of credit card machines, GPS devices and security cameras that made me think of Trapwire. The cabbies protested outside City Hall every Thursday after federal judge lifted a restraining order that had blocked New Orleans officials from implementing these new regulations.
“We are looking forward to hosting the Super Bowl, and we are confident we will provide our passengers with a world-class experience,” Krygowski said. New Orleans, which owns the airport, is requiring that all cabs serving airport travelers comply with the mandates – even taxis licensed by Jefferson Parish and the city of Kenner, where the airport is located.
The new rules, imposed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City Council kicked in at inspection time.
Many cab drivers complied in time for Super Bowl XLVII, with some cab owners reported spending up to the $20,000 to pass city inspections. As Michael Patrick Welch explains in Clean Zones and Cabbies: How the Super Bowl Screws New Orleans Part 2
But the deepest financial screwing has been reserved for the city’s cab drivers. Last April, the New Orleans City Council mandated that every city cab install a new GPS, a credit card system, security cameras, and a “panic button.” Whereas similar mandates in DC, New York, and other cities were adopted slowly over the course of several years, New Orleans’s cabs were at first given 94 days to comply with what is, in many cases, tens of thousands of dollars worth of upgrades. Several legal measures bought the cabbies a few more months, but nothing will delay the real deadline: the Super Bowl.
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