Highway Robbery and the Cabbies

After a long five hours of sitting cramped in the last car of the Amtrak NorthEast Direct next to a woman wearing way too much perfume, the last thing I want to do is argue with a taxi driver about how much it will cost me to get back to campus. Everyone has been in this situation at one time or another. You rush off the train (or bus) and hurry out to the line of taxies parked along the street. A naive freshman, I paid my first Hartford "gypsy" driver a cool eight dollars to take me to Crescent Street. An approximate five minute drive. How was I to know? He didn't run the fare clock, which should have clued me in, but hey, I assumed he knew what he was doing. It wasn't until I rode in an official Yellow Cab that I found out it is only a five dollar ride. But, there is always a catch. Try finding a Yellow Cab when a crowded train lets off at Union Place. . . good luck. The few legitimate taxies have all been taken and the street remains lined with hustlers anxiously waiting to rip you off.

A"gypsy" cab driver is one who does not work for an official cab company and uses his personal car to escort people from place to place, usually for an obscene amount of money. Gypsies are out for the money. You can't blame a man for trying, but this is horrendous. Yes, these people may recruit you the moment you get off the train, yes they may carry your luggage and open your door, but it's once you get inside that things get scary. The fare clock never runs. If you are unfamiliar with this area, who's to say that these drivers aren't charging you twenty dollars to go from Union Station to the Civic Center? I once made the mistake of not asking how much it was going to cost me to get back to campus, and when I asked him how much it was (already outside my dorm) he replied, "well, how much do you have?" You could imagine the thoughts that rushed through my head. . . "He's going to kill me, take my money, and leave me on the side of the road." As if this wasn't bad enough, last week, after attending a concert downtown, I argued for 45 minutes with at least eight different drivers about their obscene prices to take me all of what, four miles across town. Some were actually going to charge me ten dollars with excuses spanning from "Look at all the traffic" to "I'll charge it because people will pay it." Sweet. Another plus of these gypsies is, and I as a Trinity student am most offended, if they aren't going to get a decent pay, they'd rather sit around and wait for a better customer to come along. For instance, if a Trinity student is even willing to pay the seven or eight dollars for a lift back to campus, gypsies have been known to turn them down, in hopes to find a University of Hartford student, just to rip them off a little bit more than they can us.

These situations prove most unnerving to students exhausted by a day of arduous travel. We just want to get home, damn it. Why must it be such an ordeal? Having,in my opinion, mastered the art of finding a fair way to get back to campus from Union Place, I offer you some hopefully helpful tips. . .

How to spot a gypsy cab-

1. 1. Look out for cars with little or no writing on them. If a car doesn't advertise a phone number, it is most likely personal car. For instance, "Adam's Cab" may sound like a legitimate company, but it is most likely exactly what it says. . . Adam's cab; someone's car being used as a taxi to make so money on the side.


2. 2. The driver is running towards you. A reputable company doesn't need to beg for your patronage.

Try to take only the clearly designated Yellow Cabs , but if you can't, make sure you always. . .

1. 1. Ask the price before getting into a car. The last thing you need is to arrive at Mather, hand the guy a twenty, expect 14 dollars back, and watch as he drives away.



2. 2. Ask other students if they too are going to Trinity. This will relieve the tension of being along with a stranger who is there to take your money.

If all else fails, there is always good old Campus Safety. In recent times, Campus Safety has been making itself readily available to students traveling to and from Union Place, due to the inconsistency of the taxies. Give them a ring, and in most cases, they will be at the station within minutes to take you to your door free of charge.