How about we ensure that taxi drivers maintain a clean cab and know how to get from point-A to point-B. I can't tell you how many cab drivers have no idea where Washington and Waltham intersect. I don't begrudge them a better wage, but there should be a quid pro quo.

Washington street extends from Boston through one way and no traffic areas down to the outskirts of Rhode Island. I used to drive CEO's and famous people in livery and know that even dispatchers with computers know that gps usually gets it wrong that is if you can get a gps signal in Downtown Boston. My gps captures more than 7 sat. space relays and can not get a signal in areas of Boston including the tunnels. I think the real problem is they are treated like independant contractors and not employees but fail the strict MA 3 prong attorney general's test. Therefore, they should be paid as employees with benefits, etc. If you want clean then pay for a livery vehicle but a to b on a dime with one way streets in Boston, be happy you get their fast and safe on these drivers own insurance.

Many drivers don't know the city that well, but that's different issue than the fact of how the livery system is set up. We pay among the very highest cab fares in the nation, and yet drivers seem to have a difficult time making breaking even. While I am suspicious of the drivers logic (they could get another job...) I still have a strong feeling that the high cost of medallions is out of whack, and that both drivers and passengers are being screwed by the owners, and the system.

More medallions!

And oh yeah, cabbies, how about a light that tells me if you are already carrying a passenger, or if you are available.

the cabs are dirty, there is no room in the back seat, the drivers balk at taking credit cards. NYC has cleaner and more spacious cabs as well as more courteous drivers. There seems to be little incentive for the owners to improve any of the conditions--for the drivers or the cabs. This is part of the whole solution in my view.

The majority of cabbies I encounter in Boston drive like maniacs. They talk on the phone incessantly and do not pay attention to the road. They run red lights, switch lanes constantly without signaling or looking, cutting off other drivers and often causing accidents. If they want more money they should drive safely, learn English and clean their cabs first.

Ha. I still think the Medalliion system stinks, but I'll add:

- No indicator if in service or available
- No AC in back seat
- Drivers almost always on phone
- Don't use blinkers
- Stop in travel lane, even when there is room on the shoulder or side of road
- Stomp on the gas pedal, even in a hybrid, or when there is a red light just ahead
- Often don't know their way around very well
- Cabbies don't know, or pretend not to know, about closed streets or major events like that will delay traffic
- Dispatch companies don't answer phone during busy times
- I'm sure I could go on. I will say that the vast majority of cabs I've been in were clean.

Last November I was doing business at a taxi related business and the conversation got around to poaching, suddenly the owner came out of his office and said what do you think of this. After dinner, he and his wife went to the new taxi stand in the new Boston Seaport District, there sitting at the top of the stand was a blue & white FCV Bay State Taxi of Brookline, MA. Talk about stealing Boston's work. He went to the driver, a woman, and said what are you doing here? She said, I'm a cab. He said YEAH, but you are a Brookline cab, get out of here. Interesting that the Boston cabs behind her had not even created a fuss. If only Boston could get its own business. Every fall when the new students come into Boston, apparently Bay State Cabs of Brookline tell they they are Boston cabs. This is what a student actually told me, I said these are not Boston Cabs, and she said, they say they are Boston Cabs. I said no, they are Brookline cabs and can get a $500 ticket and the vehicle impounded if caught picking up street flags.