"Baltimore airport cabbies taking customers for a ride"

Monday, March 24, 2003

Airport cabbies taking customers for a ride
By ERIC COLLINS and BRIAN HAYNES
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.


Some cab drivers at BWI Airport are getting away with overcharging riders,
gouging them by more than 20 percent, an investigation by The Capital has
found.

Fellow cabbies say some drivers fix their meters to rack up fares while
others simply charge an inflated flat rate.

Based on The Capital's findings, the county Department of Inspections and
Permits has pledged to conduct its own investigation of illegal cab fares.

During The Capital's investigation, reporters rode cabs from the Linthicum
airport to the Sheraton Barcelo Hotel in Parole, a distance of about 22
miles. The trip should cost between $32 and $34, based on rates set by the
county.

But of the nine rides taken by reporters, four cost between $37 and $40, and
one cabbie charged $41 and never turned on his meter.

"That's a blatant violation," said Anne Hatcher, the county's chief of
licensing. "We'll have to look into that."

She also said her inspectors would investigate at least two of the cab
drivers that "appear to be way out of line."

Allen Robinson, operations and customer relations manager for Airport Taxi
Management L.L.C., said his company is cooperating with the county's
investigation and will punish drivers for any wrongdoing.

The company oversees the operations of the approximately 300 cabs stationed
at the airport. They serve about 400,000 riders a year.

A frequent business traveler from the Annapolis area, who asked not to be
identified, said the county and the cab company should do more to protect
the airport's cab riders from being taken for more than a ride.

"I think somebody needs to do something to discourage these people from
overcharging," she said.

One step ahead

For years, Ms. Hatcher has heard rumors about hidden devices and switches
that artificially inflate fares for unsuspecting customers.

"We've heard it's everything from the cruise control to ... the latch that
moves the seat back and forth," she said.

Yet her inspectors have never found evidence of secret devices or meter
tampering, despite twice-a-year inspections of every cab, she said.

One airport cab driver said that's because the crooked cabbies stay one step
ahead of county inspectors.

Robert Ward, a Baltimore man who has driven a cab at the airport for about
six years, said some of his peers use "jacked-up" meters for most of the
year and replace them with correct meters just before scheduled inspections.
They find experts who know how to open meters and recalibrate them for a
higher fare, he said.

"You got cheats out here," he said. "You got cheats in every line of work."

But county inspectors have failed to catch them.

In her 12 years with the county licensing section, Ms. Hatcher hasn't
suspended or revoked a cab driver's license for overcharging customers, she
said.

In New York, the taxicab capital of the country, regulators use undercover
investigations to keep tabs on the more than 40,000 taxicabs roaming the
city.

In one random test in 1994, inspectors there found that 40 percent of the
meters they tested were set too high.

In the county, inspectors found only two of the roughly 300 airport taxicabs
with incorrect meters during the last round of inspections in October, Ms.
Hatcher said.

Her office can do surprise cab inspections, but a lack of manpower - there
are only three inspectors - makes them few and far between, she said.

A cabbie's life

Talk to any driver, and he'll describe a tiring job of 12- to 14-hour days
for what amounts to minimum-wage pay after costs.

Like many drivers, Mr. Ward is paying for his vehicle (a $30,000 Chevrolet
van), plus $375 a month in liability insurance and $150 a week for the right
to work at the airport.

Drivers without their own vehicles pay $540 a week to lease company cars.

Health, disability and life insurance and gas come out of pocket.

Mr. Ward said he takes home an average of $80 to $100 a day, depending on
the unpredictable work day that can bring anywhere from three to a
half-dozen fares. Tips are usually minimal.

"You have to work seven days a week," Mr. Ward said.

He said he understands the economic pressures that push many drivers to
cheat, but he won't do it.

"It's dishonest," he said. "It gives us a bad name."

The frequent business traveler who requested anonymity had taken enough cab
rides home from the airport to know something was wrong when the cab meter
read $5 more than her usual fare.

She spoke up and got an apology and a reduced fare. The same thing has
happened many times since, she said.

"When you call them on it, they want to give you your money back so you
don't complain any further," she said.

Neither the county nor the airport gets more than a handful of complaints
each year. Airport Taxi Management wouldn't provide complaint statistics.

The anonymous traveler suspects that most people don't take enough cab rides
to know when they're being overcharged.

To protect themselves, riders can ask for an estimate from the driver or the
dispatcher at the airport, and they can make sure the meter is on, Ms.
Hatcher said.

If they believe they were overcharged, riders can complain to the cab
company or the county licensing department. The cab company will refund
money to a customer if it finds wrongdoing, Mr. Robinson said.

The frequent traveler said she hopes the investigations bring overdue
changes to the airport taxi service.

"I'm sick and tired of it," she said. "I'm sure there are many people who
are being overcharged and don't even realize it."

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