I'll Have To Call You Back After I Drop Off This Jerk
City cab drivers recieved a mixed bag of news from the city council yesterday. On the plus side for drivers is a fare increase from the current $1.80 drop/$1.80 a mile to $2.50/$2.00, which will raise the average cost of a fare about two dollars. Security cameras will also be installed in every Seattle cab and as soon as Seattlest figures out how to view those on the web we'll post it. Our crack technology team has already been assigned to the case.
The downside for city cab drivers (and supposedly of benefit to passengers) is a ban on drivers' cell phone conversations while passengers are in the car. This just strikes us as pretty unnecessary. Seattlest has been in cabs where the driver's been on the cell phone the whole time and generally it's ranged from a low mumble to inaudible. We've also taken rides where we've conversed with the driver and, of course, rides where we've sat in stoney silence. Seattlest is fine with any of the above. We think this law has less to do with safety than with passengers' desire to be the only one in the car talking on the phone.
