New little cars everywhere

I own and drive my own hybrid taxi as part of the Radio Cab company, and
despite my loyalty to the industry I am a part of, I have barely taken a
taxi since I joined car2go, and that worries me.

Car2go is the first A to B car sharing service in Portland and the
ramifications yet unfelt will be massive to the taxi industry. The
existing fleet is already larger than any taxi company in town,
providing roughly identical point-to-point livery, via reservation or
"flag," the only difference is the user drives. This doesn't bode well
for taxi drivers who make their living providing safe, professional
transportation for hire.

Industries change, and I understand that, but the part that really
bothers me is that car2go is billed as an eco-friendly venture. In my
case this is untrue: I use car2go when I would otherwise would take the
bus or ride my bike and I don't have enough time. I used to take a taxi
in that situation but instead I save a few bucks and drive myself. I am
sure other people are doing the same. I have had multiple conversations
with customers who have remarked that they would have liked to use
car2go but their destination was out of range. In these ways, personal
experience tells me a growing portion of the city's transportation is
drifting from my taxi to car2go.

What I want the city to see is that every person that takes a car2go to
work now instead of my taxi will actually create more pollution as well
as eliminate potential city parking revenue. I pollute less over the miles I drive because I am a skilled ecodriver,
familiar with the most efficient routes, and I drive a more efficient
vehicle.
(http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=32173&id=30919) Because my taxi is in semi-constant use, the engine remains warm,
igniting the fuel most efficiently. Additionally, I use regular gasoline
and the fourtwo uses Premium gasoline which requires more energy and
crude oil to produce than regular.
(http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2008/01/th...

A hybrid taxi can move up to four people at one time, and move larger
loads than the fourtwo; large grocery loads, wheelchairs, suitcases,
strollers and a bike; bridging gaps in transportation more seamlessly.

And when I park downtown I use the taxi zones and stay at the wheel or
in the vicinity; if I park in a normal spot I pay the meter or risk
getting fined. I hope car2go is providing the city with the estimated
revenue their vehicles obstruct, that money funnels into a significant
portion of the chronically underfunded transportation budget.

I hope the city will carefully consider the effect an increase of car2go
vehicles will have on the taxi industry, parking revenue stream, and
ecosystem, before allowing Daimler to bring more. Thanks for reading,
Jackson Cafazzo

Using my smartphone to be a better (taxi) driver

When I first started taxi driving we were required to have our own Thomas Guide with us. If you have had a delivery job, you will recognize it. 

Great map! Informative, and even had listings of schools, parks, goverment buildings etc. in the back. Our taxi computer system made it one step easier, and we were given the page and quadrant numbers of the address so we didn't have to look up the street in the index.

Yet, using Google Maps on my Android smartphone has elevated my map experience to a new and superior level. Let's imagine a scenario:

Say I receive an order on my computer for 1234 SW College Street and I want to see it on the map. I hold down the "Search" key on my phone and the voice search prompt pops up, even pausing the music playback for me. I say "Map of 1214 SW College Street," which is then displayed in text so I can be sure the voice recognition worked, and after a moment it opens Google Maps to that address. From that point I can get directions or navigation if I need to. With the navigation feature, you get turn-by-turn directions and even a Street View picture of the address! 

I make it to the house and hold down search again to say "Call 503-555-5555." The number dials and, using bluetooth, I tell the customer I have arrived.

But there are whole levels of complexity in addition to that. Say the customer gets in and knows the name of a store but not the address. I can say "Map of [store name]" and it will show the results of the search on the map. I can then click on it's marker to show the store's information: operating hours, user reviews, website and a clickable phone number are almost always available. 

I call to make sure the store has the item and we are ready to go. I activate the "Traffic" layer on the map and the freeway is marked red the whole way! Oh no! But I know this first off so I take surface streets and we arrive to the store without a problem. My customer is assured they made the right decision with jaxicab :D

So check out what my phone is doing:

• Recognizing addresses, phone numbers and commands by voice
• Locating an address and my current location on the map
• A picture of the address I am looking for
• Searching and accessing business listings
• Displaying easy to read color-coded traffic information 
• Directions or navigation

All that from a single free program. Pretty amazing. Thanks Google :)

See the full gallery on Posterous

Kboo Bike Show

When you go to KBOO, you must go by bike.

Why?

This:

And I was going to be part of the Bike Show! Just felt right.

Right from meeting everyone in the lobby I knew the show was going to be fun, and it sure was. The bus driver Ralph Kerbs' opinions about the increase of activity on our streets over the last 26 years was very interesting. The extra traffic means the bus loops can't be done in the same amount of time anymore, which requires more buses to provide the same service. It is really tricky trying to organize something like that and I enjoyed hearing his insights into how the system works. 

Because, really, I love Trimet. A decent percentage of my taxi customers are regularly Trimet riders who, for whatever reason, didn't make the bus that day. Because we have such a good transportation and taxi system here, those people don't need to drive their own car, and most often, own their own car. Taxis fill the inadvertent gaps in public transportation service, allowing people to commute reliably without a personal vehicle. Big win for everyone. 

Speaking of everyone, another portion are regularly cycling and, for whatever reason, can't ride their bike that day. Another portion regularly walk but are running late. It is one of the things that I love about my job; I get to be part of all these people's day, running them to work or the train station, the mall or the zoo. I get to hear about the things they do, why they took a cab, what they think about whatever it is that is on their minds...it is really fun. I have had people say it is their first time in a taxi. I get to be their whole idea of what a taxi driver is! What responsibility! ;)

I am waxing on about this because I didn't get to say it on the show. Listening to it again, I notice there are quite a few questions that were left unanswered. Funny how an hour long show could go so fast! Here is a link to the show: 

I got a little nervous and stuttered more than I would have liked, but all and all I am happy with what I could share.

For fun, here is what I think about the unanswered questions: about the bikes from the side, I like reflective tape or another set of flashing lights. The lights that attach to the spokes of the wheel are very nice at night. I am not sure if different color lights for front or back wheel would help or not. I will absolutely echo Zach's point that predictability is the safest thing, so I would go with a color other than red or white. As a driver I am trained to see a flashing white light as an oncoming cyclist and a flashing red light as a cyclist travelling my way. A green or blue or yellow or any other color light would help my brain not assume a direction of motion. 

Another question was raised about acupuncture or chiropractic treatment for driving. I have had more experience and success with acupuncture than chiropractic care, but proper nutrition has been the most important thing I do to stay healthy with my job. Ralph talked about how they didn't have a good lunch break and that encouraged snacking...well when you are cab driving, you don't really get a paid break to eat at all, so drive-thrus and snack foods are way too appealing to the bottom line. Early morning breakfast was particularily difficult for me so I have gotten into the habit of making a loaded smoothie with nuts, chia seeds, protein powder, rice bran, fresh kale...all kinds of things that taste great blended up and keeps me from settling on some unhealthy food that makes me feel bad.

I bet there are more unanswered questions, but there always are. Do you have any questions? Did you like the show?

 

Cherry blossoms at Reed College

Reflections before moving forward as I welcome myself back to the internet

It has been an interesting year and one of many changes for me. I feel as if I haven't been sharing much on my blog because I needed to focus on living out the changes first. Feeling more focused now, I intend to return to writing things. Also, my new phone (<3) does not have a cripplingly-small amount of internal memory like my last one, so I intend to get appy again and post much more.

Over this last year, professionally, I have never felt more satisfied. We put our new cab on last April, and witnessing the performance of the Prius over this year has been very exciting! Our odometer is already over 75,000 miles because the vehicle barely sits still: when my night partner or I take a shift off we can almost always lease it out because there are many lease drivers who want to drive a hybrid. I actually get a "weekend" now! Most small business owners dream of such a thing. I feel very fortunate.

Because we replaced a conventional police car as our taxi, Radio Cab #106's fuel consumption over this year went down by 3,187 gallons! In terms of carbon that can be represented by over 31 tons! And at $4 a gallon, our cab saved $12,748 in fuel costs. Downtown driving is usually in electric mode, so I am not coughing fumes at bikers anymore, and every time we are loading, unloading, waiting out front, at a light, with our turn signal on, etc. we are not idling! Taxis are a wonderful application for hybrid vehicle technology.

And I get all kinds of compliments on the cab! People appriciate the quietness of the hybrid system and the cleanliness and professionalism that comes with driving a new car. A surprising number of people remark on how it is their first ride in a Prius and are always impressed by how much room they have. Many passengers have told me that they would rather ride in a Prius for the environmental consideration, if given a choice. 

It is a win all the way around and I am proud to share it. Here is my sense of accomplishment in pictoral form ;)

Thanks for reading! 

Here is a video my friend James Kelly did with me last summer talking about the new cab, I am a little embarressed I haven't posted it here yet. If you haven't seen it, enjoy :)