Over the hump
Aug. 30th, 2006 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyringIt's day three of my taxidriving course, and I have mixed emotions about it. Every day brings the start of my own cabdriving experience 24 hours closer, and I am filled with excitement and enthusiasm at the prospect.
On the other hand, every day brings the end of the course closer, and when it's over, so too will be the pleasure of listening to two veteran cabbies share their knowledge and experience.
We students spend our spare moments with our heads down, buried in maps and lists of taxi ranks and shortest routes between landmarks. I tested myself on the list of ranks, and I'm confident of a good result. The list of shortest routes, I'm not so sure of!
One thing I'm learning, and that is despite twenty years since I first came to Canberra, I have a lot to learn about getting around. The shortest route to the airport from Civic is not along Parkes Way, as I'd always supposed, but along past the War Memorial and the back of Campbell.
King Edward Terrace is a useful shortcut to the southside - I've always gone up to the apex of the Paliamentary Triangle, but now I see that I've been driving a few hundred metres more than I should have for years and years.
No more.
A mixed bag for the morning session. Safety, cleanliness, health, uniforms. We share the schoolroom with five dummies, each one displaying a different version of the taxidriver uniforms. They are mix and match clothes, each one embroidered with a logo, so it would be rare to find two cabbies each wearing exactly the same outfit, but they are unmistakably regulation wear.
Uniform is mandatory, and a driver may be fined for being out of uniform, or sloppily dressed. I can't say that blue is my colour, but I am sure that I will be happy wearing it. Stand by for photographs in due course!
We have a discussion about health and cabdriving. The bottom line is that a cabbie needs to stay alert and active. Slouching in the seat all day long is not a recipe for sparkling longevity. Get out of the driver's seat at every opportunity. On a pick-up, go up to the front door and knock to let the passenger know the cab is ready. Take a moment to clean the windscreen, brush out the back seat. Help the passenger with luggage.
Have a good break in the middle of the shift during a quiet time. Forget about the cab, sit down for a healthy meal. Keep the fluids up. Have a piece of fruit.
The middle of the day is entertaining. Before lunch we learn about the passenger flows. In the morning, there's a stream of passengers from the suburbs to the airport. Later on, as the first flights of the day arrive from other cities, there are passengers from the airport to Civic or Parliament House.
People heading into work. Students for school.
Around ten o'clock, things slow down and work becomes a bit more random. Public servants moving between offices for courses or meetings. Housewives and the elderly doing the shopping.
After about three o'clock, the pattern goes into reverse as people head home, the interstate visitors take their flights back out, and those who have gone interstate fly back in.
Night time sees a different type of passenger emerge, and as the instructor says, "they can be very ordinary". We are told how to handle drunks, passengers who cannot or will not pay for their fare, passengers who vomit, aggressive passengers and so on.
Night shifts can be opportunities for a clever cabbie.
Before the course began, I was worried about being attacked and robbed. Not so much any more. Obviously it happens from time to time, but as with many other bad news stories, the truth gets embroidered and embellished.
The key element seems to be establishing and maintaining control. If a fare looks dodgy, insist on payment up front. If a passenger has food or drink with them, ask them to consume it before getting in the cab. And so on.
Mick, our second instructor, has a fund of stories about making money. Don't turn jobs away. Go chasing to see where the work is. Even the smallest jobs can turn into big money.
After lunch, we learn about radio work. Mick turns on the computer, we log in as "Car 600" (in reality it's a steel box in a corner of the classroom fitted with working computer, radio and credit card terminal) and within ten minutes we have been offered three jobs.
These are real jobs with real passengers. Of course we reject them and they are snapped up by actual cabs out there on the road, but the fact remains that in a quiet time, we have seen three money-making opportunities come up.
"It's that easy!" says Mick.
Understanding the radio despatch network is the key. Some ranks you can sit on them all day long and never have anybody walk up to the cab and ask for a ride, but all around, the air is full of messages for jobs requiring pickups.
We head on upstairs to the radio room. Here it is quiet. Two supervisors sit up on a platform overlooking a dozen telephone operators. The supervisors have three computer screens, and they can see exactly what every taxi on the road is doing. Every keystroke on the in-car computer terminals is logged. The positions of the cars are recorded down to a matter of centimetres.
We can follow individual drivers as they move up in the radio quese, are given jobs, drive to the pick up location, and head off with the passenger.
Most of this happens automatically, but occasionally drivers contact base with news of passengers waiting at rank so-and-so, an accident at location such-and-such. "We are the ears of the system, the drivers are the eyes," one of the supervisors tells us.
I'm impressed. I'd like to come back in a few weeks' time, when I've had more experience and can appreciate the details, but my impression is one of quiet efficiency.
In fact, a lot of the work is handled by the computer, and the supervisors can't actually monitor every car, every driver, every job. It just happens, and they ride the flows, picking up the exceptions, the errors, the highlights.
But I'm confident that if I get into trouble, these guys have the information and resourses to sort things out for me. It's all part of a system.
We move back downstairs and make a test booking over the radio. My experience as an Army signalman from twenty-odd years ago stands me in good stead here. Then again, we are performing to a set script in the manual, and I wonder how I will go if things get wobbly out on the road.
A couple more tests to finish off the day. We get the dreaded "shortest routes" test, and to my relief I find that most of the questions are fairly straightforward. Run your fingers along the routes on the map, and the knowledge is locked in. I was afraid of the finger remembering and the mind forgetting, but this turns out not to be the case. I score 91%, and the other students are all within a few points.
A short answer test on safety and road rules. I'm a bit rusty on the details; I'll have to bone up a bit before I get the driving test I need for the taxicab endorsement on my license, but I can't see any real problems.
The fleet manager comes down to let us know how we have done - he's happy with our progress - and then we are dismissed for the day.
I head home, tired but happy, making sure I stick to the speed limit and come to a complete halt at stop signs. I'm building up the habits of a professional driver, you see.
On the other hand, every day brings the end of the course closer, and when it's over, so too will be the pleasure of listening to two veteran cabbies share their knowledge and experience.
We students spend our spare moments with our heads down, buried in maps and lists of taxi ranks and shortest routes between landmarks. I tested myself on the list of ranks, and I'm confident of a good result. The list of shortest routes, I'm not so sure of!
One thing I'm learning, and that is despite twenty years since I first came to Canberra, I have a lot to learn about getting around. The shortest route to the airport from Civic is not along Parkes Way, as I'd always supposed, but along past the War Memorial and the back of Campbell.
King Edward Terrace is a useful shortcut to the southside - I've always gone up to the apex of the Paliamentary Triangle, but now I see that I've been driving a few hundred metres more than I should have for years and years.
No more.
A mixed bag for the morning session. Safety, cleanliness, health, uniforms. We share the schoolroom with five dummies, each one displaying a different version of the taxidriver uniforms. They are mix and match clothes, each one embroidered with a logo, so it would be rare to find two cabbies each wearing exactly the same outfit, but they are unmistakably regulation wear.
Uniform is mandatory, and a driver may be fined for being out of uniform, or sloppily dressed. I can't say that blue is my colour, but I am sure that I will be happy wearing it. Stand by for photographs in due course!
We have a discussion about health and cabdriving. The bottom line is that a cabbie needs to stay alert and active. Slouching in the seat all day long is not a recipe for sparkling longevity. Get out of the driver's seat at every opportunity. On a pick-up, go up to the front door and knock to let the passenger know the cab is ready. Take a moment to clean the windscreen, brush out the back seat. Help the passenger with luggage.
Have a good break in the middle of the shift during a quiet time. Forget about the cab, sit down for a healthy meal. Keep the fluids up. Have a piece of fruit.
The middle of the day is entertaining. Before lunch we learn about the passenger flows. In the morning, there's a stream of passengers from the suburbs to the airport. Later on, as the first flights of the day arrive from other cities, there are passengers from the airport to Civic or Parliament House.
People heading into work. Students for school.
Around ten o'clock, things slow down and work becomes a bit more random. Public servants moving between offices for courses or meetings. Housewives and the elderly doing the shopping.
After about three o'clock, the pattern goes into reverse as people head home, the interstate visitors take their flights back out, and those who have gone interstate fly back in.
Night time sees a different type of passenger emerge, and as the instructor says, "they can be very ordinary". We are told how to handle drunks, passengers who cannot or will not pay for their fare, passengers who vomit, aggressive passengers and so on.
Night shifts can be opportunities for a clever cabbie.
Before the course began, I was worried about being attacked and robbed. Not so much any more. Obviously it happens from time to time, but as with many other bad news stories, the truth gets embroidered and embellished.
The key element seems to be establishing and maintaining control. If a fare looks dodgy, insist on payment up front. If a passenger has food or drink with them, ask them to consume it before getting in the cab. And so on.
Mick, our second instructor, has a fund of stories about making money. Don't turn jobs away. Go chasing to see where the work is. Even the smallest jobs can turn into big money.
After lunch, we learn about radio work. Mick turns on the computer, we log in as "Car 600" (in reality it's a steel box in a corner of the classroom fitted with working computer, radio and credit card terminal) and within ten minutes we have been offered three jobs.
These are real jobs with real passengers. Of course we reject them and they are snapped up by actual cabs out there on the road, but the fact remains that in a quiet time, we have seen three money-making opportunities come up.
"It's that easy!" says Mick.
Understanding the radio despatch network is the key. Some ranks you can sit on them all day long and never have anybody walk up to the cab and ask for a ride, but all around, the air is full of messages for jobs requiring pickups.
We head on upstairs to the radio room. Here it is quiet. Two supervisors sit up on a platform overlooking a dozen telephone operators. The supervisors have three computer screens, and they can see exactly what every taxi on the road is doing. Every keystroke on the in-car computer terminals is logged. The positions of the cars are recorded down to a matter of centimetres.
We can follow individual drivers as they move up in the radio quese, are given jobs, drive to the pick up location, and head off with the passenger.
Most of this happens automatically, but occasionally drivers contact base with news of passengers waiting at rank so-and-so, an accident at location such-and-such. "We are the ears of the system, the drivers are the eyes," one of the supervisors tells us.
I'm impressed. I'd like to come back in a few weeks' time, when I've had more experience and can appreciate the details, but my impression is one of quiet efficiency.
In fact, a lot of the work is handled by the computer, and the supervisors can't actually monitor every car, every driver, every job. It just happens, and they ride the flows, picking up the exceptions, the errors, the highlights.
But I'm confident that if I get into trouble, these guys have the information and resourses to sort things out for me. It's all part of a system.
We move back downstairs and make a test booking over the radio. My experience as an Army signalman from twenty-odd years ago stands me in good stead here. Then again, we are performing to a set script in the manual, and I wonder how I will go if things get wobbly out on the road.
A couple more tests to finish off the day. We get the dreaded "shortest routes" test, and to my relief I find that most of the questions are fairly straightforward. Run your fingers along the routes on the map, and the knowledge is locked in. I was afraid of the finger remembering and the mind forgetting, but this turns out not to be the case. I score 91%, and the other students are all within a few points.
A short answer test on safety and road rules. I'm a bit rusty on the details; I'll have to bone up a bit before I get the driving test I need for the taxicab endorsement on my license, but I can't see any real problems.
The fleet manager comes down to let us know how we have done - he's happy with our progress - and then we are dismissed for the day.
I head home, tired but happy, making sure I stick to the speed limit and come to a complete halt at stop signs. I'm building up the habits of a professional driver, you see.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:07 pm (UTC)Take it easy with the wedding - if it all gets too stressful, just look into 'Nathan's eyes and you know it's worth it.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 06:36 am (UTC)Probably some time in late September, early October.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 11:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:10 pm (UTC)You've got far too happy a life.
Looking forward to seeing you two in Adelaide next year!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:13 pm (UTC)I'll take her to Paris.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 07:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 06:25 pm (UTC)You know, sometimes I have day dreams of being a driver (lorries rather than cabs, and long-distance rather than city). After reading your adventures in the cabbie trade, maybe I should look into getting my C-license (I think it is C. They have changed the whole system of licenses to consolidate all European driver licenses, and I cannot remember which is which.).
I can definitely see The Cabbie Diaries. Look here: http://busdriving.blogspot.com/ There's someone writing about driving a bus in Torbay -and it's fun to read! Yay for public transport.
GFI, just returned from up coast - by public transport of course.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 09:16 pm (UTC)Thanks a lot, TATAYAL!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 08:48 am (UTC)*feeds the addiction*
no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-31 08:02 am (UTC)