More on Hamilton, Ontario; City of Free Cab Rides

Two more entry's will soon be added to my rogue's gallery of fare thieves.

On Wednesday, September 21/05 a woman entered my cab at 95 Hess South at around 10:00 pm. She asked me to take her to 226 Rebecca (an apartment building). On the way there she told me she was going out because her boyfriend was in jail for breach of probation and failure to appear. "Nice guy," I thought. My guess is that he might have been a recalcitrant libertarian taxi driver who refused to pay a smoking fine.

She lamented that they might not be able to spend Christmas together.

When we got to the destination she asked me to wait while she went upstairs to "get the money." Of course I knew she was not going to return with the money (I've been doing this job for a while). I gave her a card with my cell number on it and told her she could call me when she had the money.

Then I snapped her picture. She posed with a nice smile. Then she asked me if she would be going on a magazine cover. "Something like that," I replied.

She didn't call me to arrange payment. I was not surprised. I found myself hoping that if she and her beau did get to spend Christmas Eve together that a lot of people would be taking cabs that night. Then she might actually have to wait a while for her free cab ride.

This morning, (24 Sept. 2005), at around 1 AM I was dispatched to 136 Bay Street South, another apartment building (no apt. number given - always a red flag). Two women and a man came from around the side of the building. They all got in and directed me to take them to Wellington and Stinson streets.

This trip smelled from the start.... like crack cocaine or some variant thereof. Sam Merulla would have advised me to ask for money up front. My experience with these types of people is that highly volatile situations can quickly arise if you preface the relationship with a request for a deposit. The potential for violence leading to personal injury or worse ought always be kept in mind.

Asking for a deposit can be a very risky move. Asking for such a deposit before they get in the cab does not help either. They may indeed give you the deposit but now they really hate your guts, especially if they intended to rip you off right from the start. It's true, those most grievously offended are often those most guilty.

"You have the right to ask for a deposit at anytime prior to accepting a customer. I would strongly recommend encouraging this business practice." (italics mine) Sam Merulla - Hamilton City Council Member - Ward 4

I recall once having several suspicious passengers in the car, all males. Foolishly, but in accordance with the advice of the esteemed council member quoted above, I asked for a deposit. One of the guys in the back seat told me in a very threatening manner, "You've got one huge set of balls asking for a deposit with three niggers (his words) in the car." I was lucky, that time... I didn't get beat up and I did get paid.

Anyway, when I arrived at Stinson and Wellington with my passengers, they asked me to wait and informed me they would be going back to 136 Bay. (crack runs are always a bit like ping-pong).

One of the women (Ashley?) and the guy then got out of the cab and walked halfway up the block. The woman met someone there and disappeared into the shaddows for a few minutes.

In the meantime, I saw someone whom I was later to learn uses the name, "Roxanne." She seemed to be acquainted with my passengers. I recognized her immediately as the person who ripped me off on Wednesday. Small world. Then the other two passengers returned and got back in the cab.

They asked me to stop at Bay and Hunter Streets. Then all three got out of the cab and started to walk south toward 136 Bay. When I asked for payment one of the women said she had to go up to one of the units to get the money and continued walking away. (The experience is a common one for taxi drivers in Hamilton, city of free cab rides. During the two hours or so after midnight I heard several other drivers from my company report similar occurances.) The three of them had obviously obtained the services of a taxicab knowing they lacked the means of paying and caring less.

I grabbed my camera, but unfortunately I was only able to get a snapshot of the guy. He started coming toward me so I got back in the car and drove back into the night minus $10.70 owed. When I develop the film he will be entry number three in my rogue's gallery. I think I will also publish these photos on my Hamilton website , under the heading "Hamilton Tourism: Two Way Streets and Free Transportation - Night Life and Low Life."

I informed the dispatcher of the situation and he sent me for another trip at The Werx. This guy paid. This is starting to sound strange to me. This guy paid? A recent conversation I had with another cab driver, named Ejaz, comes to mind. He said, "I don't worry much, anymore, about getting a tip, I just hope I get paid."

For my next trip I was sent to 21 Ford St, another apartment building. No apartment number was given. The message that came to my pager along with the address said, "Lobby, Roxanne. Money up front." Money up front? Roxanne, obviously, had a reputation.

I waited a few minutes, but not too long, especially when the dispatch includes the "money up front" proviso. Then I informed the dispatcher the trip was dead (a no load) and left.

About ten minutes later, the dispatcher sent me back to the same address saying, "They're ready now." I figured I'd go back and check it out, especially since it was so close to the neighbourhood I had visited with the thieves from 136 Bay St. S. I was particularly interested to learn if "Roxanne" was the same person who had ripped me off on Wednesday.

As I pulled up at the building I observed sure enough, "Roxanne" was the same person who ripped me off on Wednesday. There was a guy with her. He was a mean and tough looking tattooed character, probably just an actor taking advantage of Hamilton's burgeoning movie industry.

Then again, maybe this was the "breach of probation and failure to appear" boyfriend she had mentioned to me before? Or maybe just a surrogate? I have become somewhat risk averse as a result of advancing age so I chose not to hang around to find out.

I drove away just as "Roxanne" attempted to open the locked back door. She yelled some kind of exclamation.... perhaps it was something like, "hey, this is Hamilton.... I have rights! I have dignity! (I'm not a cab driver!)"

I recalled someone's sage advice to me of getting a deposit. I thought, "yeah, right.... I'm going to ask that guy for a deposit."

Roxanne, already tagged by the taxi company as a "money up front" customer has obviously been getting away with this behaviour for some time.

She is but one of many citizens of this great city habitually taking cabs without paying. This ought to come as no surprise since they are never arrested, or fined or sanctioned in any way if the police are called. Cab drivers learn early in the game that calling the police accomplishes nothing other than further wasted time.

It is time for the members of City Council to ammend the City of Hamilton by-law No. 03-128 or some other relevant by-law to include persuasive fines and/or other sanctions, such as, perhaps, reduced welfare benefits (where applicable), for these free-lance statists who see there is little need for the government to act as intermediary in the much vaunted redistribution of wealth, from those who earn it to those who do not.

I do not expect any meaningful action from City Council on this matter.

The idea of exchanging value for value on a voluntary basis, a cornerstone of much maligned free market capitalism is quite alien to socialist politicians and their "liberal" soul brothers. Perhaps the members of City Council might be more inclined to do something if they were to view the practice of income redistribution through fare theft as an encroachment on their own domain. After all, the people I have been complaining about weren't even elected!

More fare thieves:

• Fare Theft in Hamilton where cab rides are free!
• Week of November 28, 2005. $12.00
• December 6, 2005. $5.90

last modified:Wednesday,March 19, 2008 at 04:40