Ask me anything! i will be as honest as possible as to my experiences as a cabbie in las vegas since 2007. if you want a day to day on some of the happenings in the job you can also follow me on twitter, vegascab @vagascab
I have seen the show and the blonde girl from ny that was on the vegas edition still works for yellow and I speak to her on a semi-regular basis. The show was real however,she spent lots of time at "hotspots" I spoke of this earlier...she spent al lot of time picking up hard rock stripclubs and swingers clubs with hours and hours of useless footage...also she had a producer in her ear coaching her on how to ask questions
The absolute most common is the practice of long hauling however there are many more that could end up costing you a lot more. It you are planning to go to a stripclub or massage parlor please research them for 5 minutes at least a lot of guys will take you to a "clip joint" with many promises so they can pad their own pockets. 1 thing to remember is that in las vegas prostitution is ILLEGAL don't ever let a cabbie tell you otherwise. Now there are some places for the right price you can get whatever you want but iit will cost. General rule of thumb if the driver won't give you their # so you can call them for a return ride something is fishey more than likely.
On any given day you can pretty much expect it NOT to happen. if you get off of the strip and pick up at the strip clubs or swingers clubs it does tend to happen. and actually in any given week you could expect it not to happen that being said it has happend a bit and no it doesnt faze me anymore at all. most of the time i tell them to cut it out cuz its more annoying than anything else.
Look for their wallet duh! Sorry that was to easy. For the most part they wake up when the car stops moving, I would say that happens aboit 98% of the time. If they don't or just a hand on the shoulder wakes them up pretty swiftly, however if it doesn't we have to call an ambulance, Taxicab Authority, or police to remove them and extract our payment. I'm sure this was put in place years ago to avoid the first thing i said here from even being an issue!
SWAT Team Commander (Retired)
Nightclub Promoter
Zookeeper and Animal Trainer
Although I know a hell of a lot of drivers it is only because of my envolvement in the union and PDA, I seriously doubt that many drivers are as recognizable as I or some of the other shop stewards or PDA board members are. That being said there is still thousands of drivers that I would venture to say if I saw them out of their cab I would not know they are a driver. So I guess its just a comraderie thing.
the number of medallions is regulated by the TA (taxicab authority) and every year they have an annual review of medallions to decide weather or not there is a need for more in the city. you can not just come into the city and buy a car and get a medallion and get to work. long story short there are 17 companies and if the TA says we need more cabs every company gets an equal amount. there is rumors that some of the company owners have "family" ties but you know how rumors go
Depends on the situation, I'm an never allowed by law to shut off the meter when there are people in the cab. But we will turn the time off so that the meter isn't counting time. If I were to get a ticket for being an ass then yes I would apologize and m9ore than likely eat the fare. Now if I were to get a ticket for say a "california stop" or a couple miles an hour over the speed limit then I would expect full payment, however I would be freaking shocked if there was any tip at all.
-OR-
(max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)