(no subject)

[v-cat.livejournal.com]

Anyone living on Powder House notice a cab that just sits there all day long with the engine running, the driver sitting inside day in and day out? What is that all about? Kind of sketchy, no?

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

They do this in other locations too. I think the cab drivers are up to something.

[kevin-church.livejournal.com]

They may be waiting for something. If only we could figure out what.

[richips.livejournal.com]

Zombie Apocalypse, what else?

[kevin-church.livejournal.com]

"Hurrrn! HRNNN!"
"OK, Somuhville Hospital. You got cash?"
"HRRRRN!"
"Good! I ain't gonna stop at no ATM."

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

"Brrraaaaains!"
"You don't have to tell me, buddy. Jesus, this city!"

[richips.livejournal.com]

grrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainsss

[kevin-church.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I don't want to hear no lecture about me eating this cheeseburger when I'm trying to get you there, OK?"

[richips.livejournal.com]

yesss and there is the gateway to the cat macros.

[kevin-church.livejournal.com]

NO CAT MACROS! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Pull yourself together, man!

[richips.livejournal.com]

hmm seems your plea is working! no lolcats in sight thus far.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Im in ur taxi, passing judgment on ur lifestyle choices!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

"I can drop you by the Trader Joe's, buddy. Grains, geez, you know, my doctor, he says I need to get eight servings!"

[v-cat.livejournal.com]

mmm vegan zombies, the metrosexuals of the undead

[richips.livejournal.com]

♥♥♥!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

OK, that's great.

[crazybone.livejournal.com]

For the win!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Signals from their alien overlords, perhaps?

[x-bluerose-x.livejournal.com]

I for one welcome my alien overlords! :D

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

yessssssssssssss

[ron_newman]

Yeah, but those other locations are usually marked with big "No Parking - Taxi Stand" signs, like on Day Street. I doubt there's one on Powder House Blvd.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

So? Taxis will idle anywhere there are customers and they can get away with it. The guy could also be covering Tufts in general; the cab company is keeping him nearby for student calls.

I'm not saying there's not possibly a malicious motive here, just that odds are pretty good the poor guy's just doing his job.

[ron_newman]

If the taxi were idling all day, every day, outside my house, I would not be too happy.

[incontango.livejournal.com]

There were cabs doing the same thing out near Boston College when I was there. Similar suburban area without any cab stand signs.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

It looks like Somerville's Traffic Regulations (http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/CoS_Content/documents/TrafficRegulations.pdf) [warning: pdf] have this to say:

Section 5-12 Taxicab Stands
(a) No person shall park a vehicle other than a taxicab upon any street within a business
district in any taxicab stand.

(b) No person shall park a taxicab upon any street within a business district at any place other
than the taxicab stand or stands designated for the use of his taxicab or taxicabs.

(c) The location of all taxicab stands is in accordance with a schedule of streets designated as
Schedule B, hereto appended to which reference is made and which Schedule B is specifically
incorporated in this section.

Part (b) being the relevant part. I do not think Powderhouse Blvd. is considered a "business district" by the city of Somerville.

However, Somerville's City Ordinances (http://library2.municode.com:80/default/template.htm?view=browse&doc_action=setdoc&doc_keytype=tocid&doc_key=2a236865a8e3112b456aa0fd41b1b808&infobase=11580) has this to say:

Sec. 13-11. Taxi parking.
No owner, driver or other person having the care or ordering of any licensed taxicab shall suffer the same to stop in any street, square, lane or alley of this city more than five minutes, without some proper person to take care of the same, or more than 20 minutes in any case; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be taken to apply to licensed taxicabs rightfully standing upon assigned stands.
(Code 1963, § 10-22)

So it looks like it is illegal for the taxi to be sitting there (although those two documents seem to conflict one another a little bit).

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

godot. i think he's waiting for godot.

[richips.livejournal.com]

hmm strange, that seems to be coming up everywhere.

[v-cat.livejournal.com]

lol

[spatch]

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you I heard from him and he said he's totally coming by next week okay

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

*lol*

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

No, I'm pretty sure he's waiting for Guffman.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

He's not gonna wait in vain for your love, even though time is on his side, yes it is. But then again, the wait is the hardest part.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Does Somerville have no-idling laws?

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

I believe that state has them. I recently read a statute somewhere (possibly on the DEP website in passing while doing some research for work) that idling any vehicle over 5 minutes is verboten in the state of MA.

Great news for anyone who doesn't want to crack an engine head in sub-freezing weather.

[reverend-jim.livejournal.com]

Since Green Cab went to GPS dispatching, cabs can wait for calls pretty much anywhere. (In the radio days, each Zone had a specific spot where cabs lined up to wait for calls. The 7 Zone line - Tufts/Teele/West Somerville - was in the parking lot by the Dilboy Stadium. After the GPS system came online, we were told not to park there anymore.) Powderhouse Blvd. is a pretty convenient place to park while waiting for calls - ample parking, convenient to most call destinations. Lots of guys end up adopting particular spots, mostly out of habit. (Certain Zones still have cab stands where most drivers will wait - Davis, Porter, Union - but there's virtually no walk-up fares to be found in the 7, everyone calls dispatch.)

So your idling cabbie is just waiting for the computer to make him first in the virtual line and give him a fare. The 7 tends to move slow, guys who play that area are gambling on a ride going downtown or to the airport. (Oh, and as for the idling - in the winter & summer, you need to leave the cab running to keep the temperature comfortable. Nothing says "no tip" like showing up for a fare with a freezing/boiling cab. Also, the first time you shut the ignition off and can't get it started again due to a bad alternator/old battery, and consequently lose a couple of hours out of your shift, will make you think twice about *ever* shutting down again!)

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a pretty informative post. I almost lost it under all the joking around.

Anyway that makes a lot of sense. I didn't know the taxi stand at Dilboy was gone.

How long ago was this? Because I've been in a lot of Somerville cabs, and the way I remember it (this was like a year ago) was that sometimes the cabs were dispatched by computer (don't know if GPS was involved yet) and sometimes by radio (by whoever was first at the taxi stand), plus there was a second radio channel for incidentals, like if the customer didnt show up or someone needed directions.

Great nick, by the way.

[reverend-jim.livejournal.com]

Green Cab has been using GPS for at least four years now, maybe a little longer. There is no radio dispatch at all, unless the system goes down due to a power outage or something. All cabs still have the radio, but you have to send a request over the computer for dispatch to open a voice channel. When the computer dispatch system was first being introduced, we were using both radio and GPS dispatch, but that was a while ago. (On occasion, if there's a job outside of the Somerville zones and no cabs in that area, dispatch will get a driver on the radio and ask if he wants the job, but that's atypical.)

Thanks for noticing the handle! This LJ account was originally supposed to be my outlet for crazy cab driving stories, but I ended up getting out of the business before I could really get rolling. So now I just lurk the LJ, waiting for people to ask questions about cabs!

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

Damn. You're not a cabbie any more? I was so going to ask for you next time I called Green Cab. : ( Although...I probably had you at one point or other back in 2003 when I was using Green Cab constantly, rather than driving and parking at the airport or going out to drink. A lot. : )