jay wrote on October 18, 2007 09:54 PM: on taxi cab fares they make more money then the cabs out here in florida i take a cab almoxt every other day and they dont make much not enough tourists.

Lady Driver wrote on September 18, 2007 02:33 AM: I am absolutely amazed that most of the people crying over what they think professional drivers make in tips and the way they are paid are commenting on. Take for instance, all the points made in these comments, all that is taken and pointed out, for instance, Jennifer, is about the tips. No mention on how I stated the drivers in my company are paid, or the abuses we have to deal with, nor the hazards are or have been taken into consideration. So, it seems that there is a like mind that professional drivers are not allowed to make a living, not allowed to get wage increases just because of the profession we have chosen. Wow! I am amazed! Wonder if these people would be able to to pay their rents, mortgages, and other bills if they had to live off what some of us drivers make.

The Redneck Cabbie wrote on September 15, 2007 02:54 PM: When I drove cab in Vegas, I had suggested a minimum fare. Raising the meter to 2.25 per mile hurts the locals and others who rely on a taxi to go to the outlying areas of the valley, and does nothing to help the driver who waited in line for a half an hour at Mandalay Bay just to take some lazy griswold to the MGM.

Of course, it was a good idea. That's why the Taxicab Authority turned it down.

Jennifer wrote on September 13, 2007 11:00 PM: Lady Driver....tips are a courtesy, not a given. I too serve the public in the medical field, yet we don't get tipped. What's the difference between our jobs? We're both working for our money. And the public can be just as rude to me as they are to you. But I don't get that extra .20 cents to throw at their backsides...

scott wrote on September 13, 2007 11:49 AM: BB you are an idiot. You say you have your facts correct yet you THINK all the clubs pay 30$. A few nude clubs pay that. All the topless clubs pay 20$. So stop thinking you have your facts correct when you dont know what you are talking about

Lady Driver wrote on September 12, 2007 09:37 PM: Jennifer says,"And if I didn't think my pockets were getting fat enough (hello, $68 cab ride from the Airport to 95 and Durango), I'd go back to my crappy 8-5 job making no tips as I sit at my desk, not in traffic.

CAB DRIVERS...if you aren't satisfied, get another job. I'm sure there are plenty of people waiting in line to rob the public."

Well Jennifer, just how much of that $68.00 actually makes it into the pockets of the cab driver? Did you tip the driver? Maybe, maybe not. At the cab co. I work for we make just under 40% of what we book on the meter, of that percentage, 23% is paid in taxes INCLUDING our tips. If we are making even $2.00 in tips per ride, averaging 22 to 24 rides per day, maybe getting lucky and getting one $68.00 ride in the week. Get to know some drivers and ask if you could look at their trip sheet, you will see a whole bunch of little rides, kind of like from the south towers of the Wynn to the Venetian - maybe $5.80 on the meter, because of traffic. I have had a few give me $6.00 and say keep the change. Thanks dude. Have a wonderful day and good luck. How many times do I wish i had the 20 cents to bounce off their backsides? Lots of times, but I don't - I grin, bear it and hope the next person who rides in my cabs has a little better sense that we work for tips too. Especially those with extremely heavy luggage in excess amounts.

Tracy wrote on September 12, 2007 09:26 PM: Well BB you said in your first comment, "I hear that driver's charge the strip clubs hugh (should be huge) bounties". You got that totally wrong. We don't charge them anything - they tip that out. In case you only perused what I have stated, I have had 4 paying runs to the joints in 1 yr. I was happy to get anything and not have to clean up after a sick drunk, after getting stiffed by them and having to wake them up. I am also not one to divert them from one place to another. So please, do not lump all cab drivers into one category, we are not a one size or attitude fit all type of group. Some of us are college students, others are successful business men that are doing this to get away from the stress of their past enterprises, others, well who knows. Besides, just working at a strip club does not make one privy to all the workings that go on with how they deal with public conveyances, ie.. cabs and limos, depending on the area you worked in. Hopefully you have moved on to bigger and better things in your life.

BB wrote on September 12, 2007 04:44 PM: As far as being told to get my facts straight, I worked at a strip club. I have my facts straight. I do think now the clubs pay the same which is $30 per person, but if a club decides to pay more that is where the cabs go. But just a couple of months ago the cabs were getting paid by some of the big strip clubs $100 per person. The club I worked at paid $70 per person. Cab driver you should find out how to get those trips to the strip clubs or go be a doorman/valet.

CAB DRIVER wrote on September 12, 2007 04:22 PM: Here is the inside story. The monopoly of cabs by the 16 companies gives all of us no say on anything they do (in a free market, I can't have my own cab). Just when you thought you couldn't fit another cab on the city, the companies somehow managed to "convince" the Taxi Cab Authority (TA) we needed 96 more cabs. To prevent a lot of drivers from quitting, the raised your fares. A cab driver has absolutely no power at the company, the county, or the hotels who all treat like a monkey on a taxi. We get paid good enough to get insulted everyday. Also the doorman/valet and bellman at most hotels get paid by the limos when they load them. That is why they work very slowly to push customers to take a limo instead of a taxi and pay instead of $10.00 for a strip ride on a taxi $40.00+ on a limo (they pick your wallet). The strip clubs pay currently $20.00 per person. All doorman and valet ask "were are you going", if they are going to a strip club they put them on a limo and the limo driver has to pay them half of the take (i.e. 10 people x $20.00 = $200.00 from there the limo has to give the doorman/valet $100.00 or he won't get loaded again there). So if anyone is making a killing on the strip is the doorman/valet who can make thousands on the weekends (IRS are you reading this).

Tracy wrote on September 12, 2007 04:07 PM: Jennifer, If I were you I would value that 8 to 5 job you got. Us cab drivers work a minimum 10 to 12 hrs a day, sometimes waiting over an hour to pick up a fare when days are slow. With as much traffic as there is, we can't move too quickly in the city, so if the casino we do hear that is moving and has 50 people waiting in line, usually we are like the 55th cab to show up.

Some companies pay their drivers a percentage of what they book on the metter. Like that comfortable hourly wage? Sure you do, who, of your caliber, would want to work commissions and sit on a cab stand out to the street and wait for God only knows how long to try and make something on the meter? But boy, if you need one and have to wait 10 minutes everyone complains to the TA to put more cabs on the road. Yet those of us who "low book" get called into the office and are asked why we aren't averaging higher? hmmmmm But you know what, I think I will keep my driving job because there are good customers out there that appreciate driver's like me who are safe, sane and cautious and try to save our customers some money by not taking the tunnel.