“CHICAGOANS VERY SELDOM USE TAXIS.” WHAT??

It is very difficult for me to write a blog where I am upset with Chicago Alderman Ed Burke (14th Ward.) Ed and his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, are wonderful, dear friends of mine. They support all my charitable events and are superb pillars of the Chicago community. But I will not allow emotions to get in the way of my speaking out on on my disagreeing with Alderman Burke’s latest pronouncement involving a surcharge on taxi cabs fares.

On Wednesday, Alderman Burke and Alderman Carrie Austin (34th Ward) introduced a proposal for a $1 surcharge on the “flag pull” that occurs at the beginning of a ride. The surcharge would not benefit the drivers but go directly to the coffers of the city. In speaking about his proposal, Burke said,” It’s going to go to the budget committee for a hearing, but it seems to me Chicagoans very seldom use taxis. These are mainly used by visitors to Chicago, the business people who are on expense accounts and it isn’t a big amount. A $1 surcharge isn’t going to hurt anybody in my opinion, and it doesn’t impact Chicago citizens.”

How can he say that Chicagoans very seldom use taxis? I use cabs every day and I am a Chicagoan! What? I don’t count!

Burke also said that the $1 surcharge would raise about $70 million a year for the city. Once again, my pencil comes out to crunch the numbers.

The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection regulates the cab industry so they closely monitor the statistics. In the past, they have reported that there are approximately 25 million cab rides a year. If one figures in the dollar surcharge that would result in $25 million for the city, not $70 million as Burke claims.

Since historically it has been shown that when fares increase, ridership goes down, the result will be even less cab rides. So how does Burke arrive at the $70 million revenue figure?

While Burke is correct that a one dollar surcharge in itself is not a lot of money, one must remember all the other surcharges at the start of a cab ride. For our hypothetical ride we have two tourists getting in a cab at the Hyatt Hotel on Wacker Drive who want to go to Water Tower. The original flag pull is $2.25; then the fluctuating $0.50 for the gas surcharge; $1.00 for the second passenger; and $1.00 for the proposed Burke surcharge adds up to $4.75 just for getting into the cab! Add $1.80 for the mile-ride to the mall plus a 20 percent tip and the short ride totals almost $8.00! A $16.00 round trip to do a little shopping! Do you think those conventioneers are going to be complaining to the event booker that they don’t want to be in Chicago next year?

On average, I take two round trip cab rides per day. The proposed surcharge would cost me about $4/day or, allowing time off for being in the hospital and holidays, about $1,000/year. Suddenly, it is not just a dollar, it is a thousand dollars.

What is so ironic, number one, about Burke’s proposal is that two weeks ago, Chicago cabdrivers pitched aldermen on the need for a fare hike to offset rising costs and city fees they say are squeezing them to the point of destitution. The response from City Council? Alderman Thomas Allen, (38th Ward,) chairman of the City Council Transportation Committee, would not even schedule a vote on the proposed legislation! Since the last fare hike was in 2005, I don’t think drivers were being unreasonable in their request. What was NOT good for the goose now seems to be good for the gander.

And what is so ironic, number two, is that Alderman Burke has a private city driver and car, so he never has to take public transportation or hail a cab. I guess he was talking about himself when he said that Chicagoans seldom use taxis.