THE MOTOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 91, 19 April 1911, Page 4

THE MOTOR.

THE TAXICAB BUSINESS. (By "Autos.") The taxicab, or, more properly speaking, the motor-car plying for public hire, for the taximeter has long disappeared from the local vehicles, has become such a factor of Wellington streets that one is apt to forget tlie glamour and novelty ot their first arrival. They came — the vanguard — with great elan and eclat, and there were not a few sanguine enthusiasts who prophesied that the hansom and the four-wheeler would soon be — so far as the streets of Wellington were concerned — as extinct as the moa. Many months have elapsed since the auspicious advent of the taxi, and the good old growler, the landau, and the hansom are still with -us. In fact, there does not seem to be any conspicuous diminution hi 'the number of cabs in the ranks, and the Bank of New Zealand corner is ,still as' savoury a spot as ever. . And the taxis, reinforced by occasional recruits, do not number more than a score, and the first coat of paint and the gleaming brass of the radiator and the neat little red flag and all the rest of the external trappings, that drew so many at the start to invest a modest half-crown in a couple of miles spin to say that they had been in a taxi, are scratched and dull now. This, of course, comparatively speaking, and with not a few [ exceptions. Without exaggeration, how ever, the taxi — to use the most convenient term — of to-day is a vastly more sober, homely, travel-stained vehicle ] than the spick-and-span and shining chariots that introduced the horseless movement into this city. There are rumours that the taxi game is "not all that it is cracked up to be." Why? Let us enquire of a taxicab owner and j driver. THE COST. Our informant, a typical chauffeur of the very best type 2 a thoroughly competent mechanician and a careful driver, owning his own car, is perfectly candid about the whole business. "The public may think our taTiff pretty high," he says, "hut the expenses of running a car would surprise them. A single item — tires alone — runs into £150 a year on an average, or £3 a week. A single cover costs £10. and an inner tube £3 lOp. The average wear of a tire is four months, and of an inner tube twelve month.*— so you can see my estimate is fairly right. A man might be running with a new cover for the first time and nut her up over a Broken bottle in a side street in the dark or over a railway spike or k. long nail. Still I don't count that. W s an accident, bad luck or whatever you want to call it. Then you may reckon at h:ast 10s a week mending punct.ure* aud vulcanising, and the rest of nnnor tire troubles. The cars have to tw overhauled compulsorily twice a year, And that costs about £10 a time. Lubricating oil comes to from £2 10s to £3 a xveok, and petrol to about £4 on average. Lighting is another item amo anting to about 4a I oin not counting in the ex[)snßai sneh things ss repairs to engine nnd transmission gear or chassis after a collision or accident. Personally, I have not had the slightest trouble with my engine, and running gear during the sis month! I have had my present car, but 1 have had a couple of collisions necessitating repairs to mudguards and radiator. These I don't count in. They are not inevitable expenses. I must mention Varnishing, however, every six rvontha, which costs £6. Taking all in all we have to make on an average of £2 a day seven days a week to get a living out of the game. I can tell you it's not all that it is cracked up to be. I have been lucky; I look after my car, and she is a good one, but, if a car develops defects :>s some will, or you have a serious accident, all your profits are gone. "You want to know why a company running a battery of cars is at a disadvantage compared with ,the owner/ (

driver. Well, in the first place, the shareholders all ws.nt a cut at the proI ceeds, and that does not leave enough lor the proper up-keep of cars as it rule. Then, when a driver is only a servant, he is apt to be far more careless of the car he is driving than if it was his own. That is only natural. You have heard of "joy -riding," of course. Well, that runs away with the profits, and it's pretty hard to stop. A careless driver can do more to damage a car in one minute than a careful man would do in one year. Take this car, for instance. An inexperienced or recldess chauffeur could do £20 worth of damage in twenty yards, and that without running into any obstacles. You have got to know how and when to pnt in your clutch and change your gear. If you try to enmesh the spur wheels at the wrong moment you might burst the whole gearbox. Then, again, a careless driver might smash his rear axle or break his shaft. It's easy to do these things, and they cost a lot of money to repair. That's where the owner-driver comes in. A good car with proper usage will last years, but treat her badly and she'll be fit for the scrap-heap in less than a year. In some cases men get cheap cars, just to make a start, and when they get a little 1 money together they discard the old car and go in for a better class of machine altogether. As a business proposition, I dare say, it pays, but I paid £700 for my car, and it will do me. DRIVERS AND THE TARIFF. "About the qualifications of drivers : well, they have to pass a practical examination by the City Inspector before they can receive licenses, and the police 1 are consulted as to record. If a man is found guilty of gross carelessness or misconduct — as, for instance, in persistently carrying undesirable persons or generally plying an undesirable trade, he loses his license. There are one or two men who have had to leave the rank for that. The public can absolutely rest assured as to the perfect respectability of the taxicab nowadays. Our tariff? Here it is (producing a card) :—: — Continual running, 15s per hour; or Is per mile for 4 passengers. Visiting time, 12s 6d per hour. Opera (return), 2s 6d each. Doctors, 10s per hour. Booked orders to meet trains and boats, ss. "Do we differentiate between persons? We do, to a certain extent. Suppose you axe a friend of mine; say I know you — you are a customer. I charge you Is for taking you to the station. Now, if you were a stranger or looked as if you ca-me from the country, I should probably make it a couple of bob. Rebate business? I daresay ; but it's business. You will notice our charges are not extortionate at all. It may look big to say 15s an hour, but think where a car will take you in that time— Upper Hutt, Porirua, or Day's Bay, easily. It works out at about Is a mile a passenger — it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. Our best days? Saturdays and Sundays undoubtedly, taking people round the Queen's Drive or for picnics into the country. We make as much as £10 or even more for the two days. We scratch along up and down the town on other days. The theatres- bring us odd customers. On wet days there's very little doing. IMPROVEMENTS IN CARS. " Any suggestions as to improvement® in cars? Yes; the money-making car will be lighter than the present taxie. Tlray will hold at the outside four passengers, instead of six as many of the present limousine-landaulets cajn take. It works out this way : The car costs just the same to hire by the hour whether it holds a couple of people or six, and naturally whoever has to pay makes up the party to the full complement. This is a heavy load— six and the driver I—and1 — and means a lot of wear and tear in tyres. A car holding only four or five, including the driver, instead of seven, ie a. more payable proposition. What are the prospects for the taxi? Well, with tyres' coming down with the price of rubber, there is a better look-out now than there was. six months ago, but there is really nothing in it so far as actual money is concerned. But it's not a bad life, and there are little bits of fat here and there in the lean, when you meet some people out for the day. They do you well, they do. Yes, sir, all right. Good-bye." And he mounted the Beat, took the wheel, and moved off the rank swiftly, yet quietly, with his fare.