How taxi drivers are trained
It is not just driving skills and knowing the most circuitous route to a destination that constitutes the taxi drivers’ skill set. They have to be trained on how to handle passengers and ferry them to and from places in the city... as well as any points in Luzon.
The “Worldly Taxi Facility” is a training center for drivers. We visit the large compound whose location is best left undisclosed. We walk into the lobby with its unusual sign “the customer is a pest” featuring a cockroach inside a circle with a red diagonal slash. The receptionist ushers us to a conference room for our meeting with the training directress.
Through a glass wall we see a realistic set downstairs, featuring actual taxis and professional actors playing customers in a queue. They exhibit mannerisms like frequently looking at watches, texting while waiting, and occasionally moving out of the line to hail a passing cab already occupied by another actor.
We ask the directress who the target trainees are.
She is soft-spoken: “Our students are aspiring taxi drivers who already know the rudiments of driving, like cutting in and out of lanes, dodging motorcycles, and leaning on the car horn to warn buses to stay on their lanes. We sometimes get experienced drivers who want to refresh their familiarity with poorly lit streets.” Driving skills are not part of your program? “The school goes beyond driving, and into inculcating the proper culture of service. The taxi driver is encouraged not to feel inferior to the customer. He has to push his own needs.”
And, what kind of needs are these?
She explains the need to be taught how to extract the most income in the shortest period of time, so he can even knock off early to be with his family. She calls this goal “profit maximization,” which requires negotiating skills.
Negotiating skills? Isn’t the fare set by the taxi meter?
She smiles at our naiveté. “Negotiations for the fare are best done before the customer gets inside the car. Interview questions need to be quickly answered — destination, work experience of the passenger, and her favorite color. The route is important when close to ‘car barn’ time. Only when the customer passes this interview by the car door does she get into the cab, and rest her weary body inside — and ma’am you have to pay extra for breathing too fast.”
So, is the taxi meter turned off after this interview?
She seems offended. “That is illegal. The meter is still useful to see what the suggested retail price is. But negotiations can continue inside the cab — where does the passenger want to pass? Do you want to see Tagaytay first before going to Katipunan, Miss?”
Are taxi drivers trained to chat up the customer?
She notes that some passengers are annoyed by talkative drivers. Female passengers feel doubly threatened when personal questions are asked, like if she has a boyfriend and whether she has a favorite sleeping position. The trainees are still encouraged to read up on current events so their radios are usually tuned to talk and advice programs on broken hearts. “Is your love life okay, Miss?” What about rush hour and bad weather? She beams at the question. “This is where our training really counts. It covers routes, negotiations, and opportunities for profit maximization. We also ask our drivers to mention risks of stalling in flooded areas, as well as the best multiplier to use for the fare.”
When we ask her about alternative carriers coming into the scene, she seems to lose her cool.
She considers these poachers a bunch of untrained freelancers who don’t turn down any pickups and have a set fee, sometimes paid by credit card. She is dismissive. “Do they even know the streets and the art of conversation?”
Does the training program consider the interest of the passenger?
She shrugs. “Maybe they need their own training program on patience, compassion, and the primacy of the taxi driver and his right to be choosy. If they need to be fussed over and given a sponge bath, they should get a nurse.”
“Our students are aspiring taxi drivers who already know the rudiments of driving, like cutting in and out of lanes, dodging motorcycles, and leaning on the car horn to warn buses to stay on their lanes. We sometimes get experienced drivers who want to refresh their familiarity with poorly lit streets.”