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Continued from February… After a brief chat with Charles Rathbone about how DaC was doing, he gave me a tour around Luxor’s radio circuit and garage. What I was looking at felt so familiar to me. Charles has recently been 'kicked up stairs' at Luxor and as a result, said he was now only doing three days a week in the cab. He was enjoying his new roll working in the office, helping to keep the wheels turning from behind a desk. In the far comer of the large yard, I noticed a blue and white TX2 that was looking very sorry for itself. Charles said that half its inner and outer parts had been harvested to maintain the last cab remaining of an original fleet of 25 TX2s that the garage once had. So why did the TX2 venture fail so badly? Charles explained that it wasn’t that the cabs were not popular, it was getting the spare parts to run a big fleet of them. Charles loved driving his TX2 around San Francisco (Call Sign, October 2004). "It was good on fuel consumption compared to previous cabs," he said, "and customers still ask for that type of taxicab as their preferred ride, especially disabled passengers." Charles commented that another drawback with their TX2s was accommodating the large motorised American wheelchairs used by the disabled. They wouldn’t fit into the rear of the cab. If you go to Charles’ website www.taxi-library.org you will read all about the TX2's USA saga and see pictures of the setting-up of the London cabs in Charles's great city. It is also a fascinating website for world taxi info. Charles has many interests in life away from the US cab trade. A committed Anglophile, he admires with a deep passion anything related to London's licensed cab trade and especially all things Dial-a-Cab! If anyone qualifies to be an honorary London taxi driver, then that person should be San Francisco cabdriver, Charles Rathbone. His interest, support and knowledge of our taxi trade problems are genuine and sincere because his taxi trade in San Francisco has the same inherent problems that we have here in London – pirates! Over there, the big Lincoln town limousines are |
Call Sign’s illustrious
cartoonist recently visited Dial-a-Cab’s equivalent in San
Francisco where Charles Rathbone showed him around The Luxor Cab
Co… Jery Craig visits Luxor Cabs – San Francisco |
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 Taking calls isn't quite like it is at DaC! |
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stealing the cab trade's work from hotels, while staff are receiving back-handers just like some hotels in London. Disgusted by the behaviour, Charles has boycotted many SF hotels in protest. Then there is the frustration of battling the Taxicab Commission, which seems to put SF taxi driver's affairs at the end of the queue. Familiar? He knows all about Ken Livingstone and what he’s doing to the taxi trade in London. Charles must be the most well informed person on London's cab trade anywhere in the world, outside of London. He has nothing but praise for the way Dial-a-Cab has progressed from its small beginnings to the dizzy heights that have been achieved today. Compared with the other SF radio circuits, Luxor's fleet is the busiest radio circuit over a 24/7 period in San Francisco. All drivers taking a Luxor cab out to work have to place a green metal medallion on display in the front window of the cab for all to see and at the end of the driver's day, it is handed back to the paying-in office. Each driver has to pay 40% of the meter takings, everything else is theirs to keep. The Luxor fleet was established in 1928 and comprises of 200 cabs and over 400 drivers. The garage maintains and services its entire fleet on their premises. The Luxor set-up also runs 6 licensed limos from their garage, each driven by a non-cabdriver. I was impressed by the good condition of all the vehicles I saw. Like our PCO cab plates, the SF medallions cannot be sold on. Charles is a medallion owner - the |
garage
uses them collectively. On a driver’s retirement, long-lasting ill health or any other serious reason, the medallion has to be handed back to the Commission. In Luxor’s small radio room, there is only one dispatcher on duty handling the entire fleet and giving out trips to drivers on ‘the streets of San Francisco’ - I had to get that in! I watched as dispatcher Christina showed me the workings of the GPS-linked dispatch software and all the little cab symbols moving around on the map. The two 19-inch flat screens displayed the whereabouts of each individual cab, whether they were engaged or not. All job queries are dealt with on a one-to-one basis by the dispatcher. A dispatcher's life at Luxor cabs seemed to be one that is both stressful and busy. Alongside the dispatcher at any time, there are always two order takers – Bettina being one. They handle over 800 jobs per 8-hour shift. I told Charles that his radio circuit reminded me very much of the ODRTS office that we operated in Pentonville road in 1966. In those far off days, it comprised of just 300 owner-drivers who had to compete with the two other radio circuits operating in the London area. There was Levy's at Kings Cross and Mountview up at Highgate. If any Call Sign readers ever get to the beautiful city of San Francisco, hire a blue and white Luxor Cab and tell the driver that you know about Charles Rathbone, I’m sure the driver will say he knows him well and what a nice guy he is. Jery Craig. |
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POWER PILL IS BACK! |
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Call Sign finds another Power Pill
supplier! Chris Hayball is happy to supply any Dial-a-Cab drivers with the amazing Power Pill - & at an even better rate than before! 
You can buy 10 packets for a total of £110
– and that includes postage! You can order via post to: |
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