Friday, February 23, 2007 Acofo: Our own nice taxi drivers and local tourism By Julio Acofo Seeing with new eyes
AN UNRECOGNIZED player of the Baguio tourism is our taxi driver who returns the taxi change to the last 50 centavos. Some years back, in a talk to some Dela Salle students who were in town for an educational tour, I begged them to "get (ask for) from taxi drivers whatever change they have from their taxi fares. Please, we don't want the practice of taxi drivers in Manila to be transported here" or something like that.
When in Manila, I see to it that I have coins and loose change enough to pay the exact amount for my taxi fares.
Waiting for taxi drivers to dutifully search for coins in their wallet and coin boxes just to hand the exact fare change fascinates one. To say we appreciate is not enough. Never mind the times that if you lack 50 cents to complete your fare, some of them readily say "okey lang" (it's okey).
There are however a number who do not return your change of 50 centavos. But that makes the story with our local taxi drivers more cool and fun. I myself cannot readily say "okey lang" when the taxi driver lacks 50 centavos to hand me a full change of my fare. I don't know with you. But the ease of saying "okey lang" by our local taxi drivers is interesting and worth looking into.
Fifty centavos may look a pittance. But you need 50 centavos to complete the flag down rate of P25. There are 50 centavos in P25. So that a taxi driver with the habit of saying "okey lang" each time a passenger lacks 50 centavos literally gives away (loses) P25 equivalent to the cost of a flag down rate, when he did it for 50 times. And that is very possible with the way I saw it with drivers. Twenty-five pesos is also half of the cost of a regular budget meal.
Drivers flock with students for budget meals in the roadside eateries from Guisad to the areas near the Burnham Park. A taxi driver who "gives away 50 centavos a hundred times loses P50. That's a full meal and two flag down rates.
How do most of our taxi drivers earn? According to unofficial data, a taxi driver has to submit at least P600-P800 net collection to the operator/owner of the taxi. Net collection in the jargon of the local transport business is known as "boundary".
What are the conditions attached to the "boundary"? The taxi driver returns the taxi in the same condition that he got it out of the place of the owner. No major damages to the taxi or the taxi driver shoulder the costs of repairs. The taxi driver replaces the fuel that the taxi had when he pulled the taxi off the owner's place. The amount of the "boundary" or net collection varies depending on the kind of car, its sitting capacity, model and the fuel that its uses. SUVs like the FX that can carry four passengers may command a higher "boundary".
We are in the season of Panagbenga, the city's most talked about local tourism month-long festivity. The Panagbenga attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers and visitors to Baguio. Sales and room-occupancy go up and so with the use of our local taxis which by the way, if what I read is correct, number 7,000.
Regulation of transport vehicles is based on the transport system i.e. road density, road quality, segments (classification) of users and not primarily on the amount of money raised through attached government regulatory fees (taxes). Taxes are just means. The end is a safe, enjoyable and PROFITTABLE public transport.
I heard taxi drivers complaining that taxi driving is getting to be like the vegetable industry of Benguet -- "sugal". It's like gambling, the risks are high. Gambling is a game of chance. Why chance? Because the player does not have any notion of what happens next. He does not have complete, relevant accurate data to base his decisions and consequently actions on. All he has is a 50 percent chance to fail and 50 percent chance to succeed.
I don't know how an industry can grow when its primary players and drivers move and work with chance. In planning, chance is classified as risk.
I have heard people say that if only our taxis would be organized like those in Cebu and Palawan, which operate with an almost perfect orderliness. The have color-schemes, the drivers and porters are so "magalang" (respectful). They greet you and always say thank you". I do agree. But we also have our good points. And to start with our taxi drivers return our fares.
Many tourists surely enjoy getting back their fare change to the last 50 centavos. In fact, many of my friends from Manila are appalled by the gesture. They attest that local taxi drivers do not move you around to stretch their road coverage and earn more. Some however smoke and have these sometimes loud irritating radios through which they communicate and are monitored.
What if our taxis have "we return your fare change full" painted on them. Wouldn't that be a better flag for this city of values? Fair are our taxi drivers. I never heard of taxi drivers having seminars like VOW as we do in government. But they have my WOW for this simple but hardly noticed act. Last Monday, a taxi driver returned through his sister my mobile phone, which I mistakenly left in his taxi last week. My thanks.
