The presidents of Yellow Cab and Liberty Cab got together and penned an op-ed for today’s Chronicle extolling the virtues of the city’s new $6 downtown fare program. You know, the one the cab drivers didn’t actually know anything about.
We believe The new $6 go-anywhere cab program that went into effect last week is a big step toward improving circulation downtown and promoting a more vibrant, healthier central business district.
For six bucks, those who live, work and play downtown can now hail a cab for door-to-door service to more than 100 locations for dining, business meetings and errands. (The $6 fare can be shared by multiple riders.)
Dubbed “Six in the City,” we think this program will prove to be a convenience and a time-saver for the rider, an economic stimulus for downtown merchants and add energy to Houston’s downtown street scene.
Wasn’t the ($500 million, 7.5 mile) Danger Train supposed to accomplish all that?
Since Houston City Council approved the flat rate in October, a host of entities has been working to establish the infrastructure for this program. The city has doubled the number of taxi stands at curbside, where cabs can wait for passengers, and established 30 cab-hailing locations (marked with curb signs and street decals) where passengers can be picked up and dropped off.
While those locations were identified, street lanes were striped and public awareness programs were ramped up, Houston’s cab companies were bringing their drivers up to speed. With more than 2,000 taxis on the street, this is no small feat. Houston has about 150 cab companies, many with fewer than five vehicles. Each is responsible for communicating objectives to its own drivers.
In other words, it’s not easy to get the word out to far-flung taxi drivers, even on a major initiative. But we’re making good progress, contrary to the impression that may have been created by uninformed drivers recently quoted in the Chronicle.
We estimate that 90 percent of all cab drivers are aware of the program at this initial stage.
Rest assured, downtown folks, there are only about 200 cab drivers left who don’t yet know about the $6 fare.
Yellow Cab and other companies gave informational rack cards to their drivers and Liberty Cab sent a memo to each of its drivers. Last week Yellow Cab began putting decals on each of its taxis and installing signbacks on 100 of its vehicles.
The city of Houston is providing printed collateral materials to cab companies for distribution to drivers and for the past week has been passing out rack cards and flyers to drivers at all downtown cab stands.
The program began on November 15th and a week later (after the Chron‘s embarrassing story), an information drive began in earnest to educate local cabbies about the new program.
“Six in the City” is the perfect opportunity to revive Houston’s cab culture. The $6 fare is attractive to drivers and riders, and the new infrastructure allows cabs to operate in a feasible manner.
It’s all about reviving Houston’s “cab culture.” Because that’s something the city should be doing.
