The Witching Hour

Turning Cabs Into Pumpkins

We were out and about one afternoon recently and we decided we would use a cab to get back home. We were on 9th Avenue and it was early rush hour. Imagine four lanes of yellow cabs in a logjam all bobbing and weaving and angling for their break. We did our usual hand up to hail a cab, which we now are able do confidently. But almost immediately we noticed something was amiss. Nobody was stopping to pick us up. All of the cabs already had customers or were off duty. All of them! There were so many cabs right there so we continued hailing just in case there was one on duty and we just didn’t see it. A couple of them stopped, rolled down their window and asked us where we are going. In each case the same response, “No, sorry” and they sped off.

Now we were really puzzled. Then it struck me. It was the dreaded shift change. I had heard of this before but I dismissed it as I could not relate to it, after all I was never going to be living in New York. Well let me tell that it is real and there is not much you can do about it.

There are roughly 13,000 cabs here and they all work twelve hour shifts, basically a day shift and an evening shift. There is more money to be made working the day shift so they do a couple of things to make the evening shift desirable and equitable for the drivers. One is that they charge an extra fee, I think one dollar, for evening rides. The other thing is that they time the shift change so that both shifts get the benefit of one rush hour included. Everyday from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM all 13,000 cabs are required to return to their garage immediately after they drop off their last fare. In a sense they all really do turn into pumpkins as they are no longer functioning as cabs.

What we witnessed was all of these drivers getting off work at the same time. The few who stopped for us were trying to grab some extra cash on the way back but only if the destination was exactly along their route. No leeway on that. For each of these cabs there is another driver waiting to start his shift as soon as possible to catch his share of rush hour bounty. Think about it, these cars are driven 24 hours a day!

So, if you should find yourself in a similar situation in Manhattan don’t get frustrated. Instead just take a look around you. There will be a dozen restaurants or bars at your feet. Go sit down and relax until the shift change is complete.