From the Chicago Dispatcher
June 2009

What should be done?

In our December 2008 issue I wrote, “I think it is the city's responsibility to make sure our income is objectively studied, rather than by making their own estimations or by asking drivers to save meter and gas receipts.”

After that I was called by the Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection who wanted to discuss this idea further and solicit ideas on how this could be done.

I explained some of the problems with trying to determine driver income. I related some of the problems I enumerated above with asking drivers about their incomes. I also criticized some of the other methods of determining driver income by checking dispatch logs or meter runs that may be reported by affiliations. Just because a driver accepts a dispatched order doesn't mean that translates into money for the driver. There could be “no shows” and frustrated drivers tired of waiting have been known to “pick up” the order even though nobody was there.

They'll do this in order to clear the order so that they can be in queue to accept another fare. Looking at a computer printout this would appear that the driver took a fare when, in fact, he or she didn't.
Similarly, oftentimes a driver will activate his or her meter when he or she is off duty in order to turn off the “for hire” light on the top of the cab so that he or she won't get in trouble if flagged down. Then there are the drivers who will give rides for free but will turn on the meter to show that the cab is occupied or for other liability reasons. Of course there's also the fares in which a passenger skips out on paying.

So how do you accurately determine driver income? In my opinion you need to actually see the exchange of money between the passenger and the driver. One way to do this would be to take a representative sample of cabs on a voluntary basis and install a video camera between the driver and passenger compartment that faces the meter and shows the exchange of money (cash, credit and vouchers).

I'm not sure if you'll do anything with this or if the city has done anything with it but that would be a better way of more accurately determining driver income and hours worked than surveying drivers or depending on meter receipts or dispatch logs.

In summary, while it may be true that Chicago taxi drivers are “near the margins of economic failure” this cannot be confidently concluded from your study, which can be easily impeached. My hope is that one day driver income is objectively and reliably determined to actually prove conclusively what I already know to be true - that Chicago taxi drivers don't make enough money.

- George Lutfallah, CL # 79310
University of Illinois MBA 1998, Urbana Champaign