Taxi Fare Increase is now official :(

[Mike]

Mike - I've met you in person and think you're a really nice guy - I've defended you to people that say what a jerk you are - please don't prove me wrong. No one is saying you have to feel sorry for people and how hard they work to earn their living - but you don't have to be a jerk to/about them either. A little courtesy and respect is all anyone is asking for.

All I can say is a Canadian or American using North American measurements for success in regard to a Taxi driver in Cozumel makes no sense. It's quite possible a Mexican Taxi driver doesn't measure his happiness or financial success in life by the same standards such as feeling like a failure because he doesn't own 3 high def TVs or have a sport utility in the driveway.

If we take that Taxi driver and transport him no more than 50 miles into the Mexican mainland, his income would quite possibly make him one of the wealthiest persons in town. Projecting Canadian or American financial standards of success on him is ridiculous.

Brules comments and opinion about the taxi fares don't make him insensitive to Cozumel taxi drivers plights, and deserving of "I'd like to see you walk in their shoes." He's a consumer of the service and rightfull to have an opinion of the situation. Taxi driver's financial problems are a direct result of the union that 'protects' them as a monopoly in the one hand while using the other hand to punish them by artificially controlling their quantity and flooding the market with too much supply, making it harder for drivers to make the incomes they once enjoyed. Brules comments were spot on, the taxi union is punishing the drivers and the community by raising prices instead of reducing supply. They will solve the problem over the short term, raising the drivers income by raising prices, but then how long will it be before they again punish the very drivers they in theory protect by once again enlarging the taxi fleet in the name of employment?

Further I posted sarcastically in regard to feeling sorry for workers in Cozumel, they are living in a place where many visitors from both America and Canada consider them to be living in paradise and a place they dream of being able to retire to one day. I don't see a lot of unhappy faces in the natives, it's probably quite possible that many natives judge their happiness using other yardsticks other than just financial.

If having an adult conversation on a subject about more than, Wow, what a great fish taco! makes me a jerk, then so be it. I'm sorry that a little bit of reality or diversity of opinion paints one as a jerk in this forum.

 

[fishi]

You're 100% right Mike. If a guy chooses to live on a small island and sit on his arss all day he probably won't be doing a lot of international travel. But he is not the one complaining about it is he.

 

[ggunn]

...who the heck is feeling sorry for me?

Not I, that's for sure.

 

[mstevens]

How it compares to yours or mine doesn't seem to matter; how it fits in their society is what matters, I think.

Exactly.

 

[Brules]

How would you like to support yourself and family on what a Cozumel taxi driver makes? Bet you'd be doing a lot of international traveling and diving, huh?

They make $8 to drive me <2 miles from my hotel to my dive shop, which takes less than 4 minutes. So on a per minute basis, they make more than I do.

If they have to sit around on their butts all day waiting for fares, that is not my fault there are too many of them making too little. Supply, demand and a virtual mafia like monopoly are the reasons they are not all millionaires.

I have 0 sympathy for them, I never tip, and I continue to use them less and less. If they are not making enough money to support themselves, it is NOT BECAUSE THEY DON'T CHARGE ENOUGH. It is because there is way to damn many of them, and they end up sitting on their butts waiting for fares. Oh and add to it that locals pay a fraction of what they charge tourists and drive them much further for a lesser rate, so they continually think they need to make up for it by charging me more.

The whole taxi system/union down there is beyond stupid and I hope they all continue to hurt economically which in turn will hopefully induce the union to implode - otherwise they will continue down this path until they are charging NYC/Chicago rates and tourists will use them less and less, or decide to go somewhere else.

In addition, the people who own/hoard the taxi licenses and then rent them out to other drives who can't get one is the real reason they don't make decent money......

Next time know what you are talking about before you try the "poor taxi driver guilt trip post".

 

[Zman96]

Wow how did a thread in taxi fares going up, end up in a discussion on where local jobs put people on the socioeconomic ladder? I think it is safe to say this topic has been beaten to death.

If you don't want to pay the cab fare, walk or rent a car. If you take one know the price before you get in.

 

[Mike]

Not I, that's for sure.

Oh Gordon I know you do, you just don't want to tell anybody about our bromance.

Now give me a cyber fist bump

 

[Christi]

They make $8 to drive me <2 miles from my hotel to my dive shop, which takes less than 4 minutes. So on a per minute basis, they make more than I do.

Really? You think that it's $8 profit? Come on Justin, I know you are smarter than that! They have overhead too! Gas, car payment, maintenance, wear and tear, union fees, licenses, etc.

If they have to sit around on their butts all day waiting for fares, that is not my fault there are too many of them making too little. Supply, demand and a virtual mafia like monopoly are the reasons they are not all millionaires.

That's a large statement! Show me a taxi driver ANYWHERE in the world that is a millionaire. And the fares here are MUCH less than most US cities BTW.

I have 0 sympathy for them, I never tip, and I continue to use them less and less. If they are not making enough money to support themselves, it is NOT BECAUSE THEY DON'T CHARGE ENOUGH. It is because there is way to damn many of them, and they end up sitting on their butts waiting for fares. Oh and add to it that locals pay a fraction of what they charge tourists and drive them much further for a lesser rate, so they continually think they need to make up for it by charging me more.

WRONG! The tourists DO NOT pay more as a general rule. Locals DO NOT receive preferred prices with the taxi's unless a taxi driver decides to charge a local less than the legal rate which he pays for out of his pocket - not you! YES, we've established the fact that there are some real scumbag taxi drivers out there, just like there are in every profession and industry - but it's not fair to blanket ALL of them under the same umbrella. There are some very upstanding, honest, hard working taxi drivers that are doing nothing more than you and I, which is trying to earn an honest and modest living.

The whole taxi system/union down there is beyond stupid and I hope they all continue to hurt economically which in turn will hopefully induce the union to implode - otherwise they will continue down this path until they are charging NYC/Chicago rates and tourists will use them less and less, or decide to go somewhere else.

Again for clarification - I am not an advocate for the taxi union - I strongly oppose the union aspect of the taxi's and the control they have as a group here. BUT - don't blame those that are just trying to make a living for the actions of their superiors. Do you blame all of the Enron employees for the actions of their Executive officers? Same concept here really!

AS I mentioned in a previous post - they have not raised rates in years - so this seems excessive because it's a substantial increase at once - but had they raised prices by 4 or 5% over the past five years, no one would have noticed and no one would be complaining - but we would be at the same price point we will be when the changes take effect.

Is it your argument that businesses do not have the right to raise prices appropriate to the cost of living increases and inflation?

 

[mstevens]

Supply, demand and a virtual mafia like monopoly are the reasons they are not all millionaires.

So, let's examine this.

A million bucks at USD$8 per ride (I usually pay MXN$25-40 per taxi ride, but for this illustration we'll use your far larger number) means 125,000 trips. That also presumes pure profit, which as I'm sure you'll agree is completely laughable and an embarrassing assumption, but let's stick with it. That eighth of a million trips spread over, say, a 30-year career (working every single day for three decades without a holiday, sick day, day off to attend the funerals of loved ones, hurricanes, etc.) means an average of 11.4 trips per day. That seems like a potentially "doable" number of trips per day, but I seriously doubt that is at all likely in the real world.

That's pure income. For this to work, our millionnaire taxi drivers would need to have zero living expenses of any sort. They would need to have all their food donated. They would need no medical care of any sort, no shelter, and would have to drive naked and barefoot.

No. I think there are other reasons they're not millionnaires. Your numbers simply don't hold together. If they did, you'd certainly be a millionnaire assuming you make at least USD$33,333 per year over a 30-year career. Are you, or do you realistically expect to be?

Next time know what you are talking about before you try the "poor taxi driver guilt trip post".

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[mediumone]

At one time a taxi job in Cozumel was supposed to be a ticket to a solid middle class life, I hear. I don't know what they make now a days, hence I don't speculate. How it compares to yours or mine doesn't seem to matter; how it fits in their society is what matters, I think.

I would agree.